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FEBNANBO G. CARTLANU, 

Poughkeepsie, 



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SOUTHERN HEROES 



OR 



THE FRIENDS IN WAR TIME 



BY 



FERNANDO G. CARTLAND 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
BENJAMIN F. TKUEBLOOD, IL. D. 



' LIFT IN Christ's name his cross against the sword." 



CAMBRIDGE 

prtntfD at ttjr Hitergine prcs^sf 

1895 







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Er5"40 



Copyright, 1895, 
By FERNANDO G. CARTLAND. 

All rights reserved. 



The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. 
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghtou and Company. 




TO 
ABBIE F. CARTLAND 

THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
BY HER HUSBAND 



PREFACE. 



In presenting this volume to the public, the writer 
would say that he has been only one o£ many who 
have for a long time realized the importance of pre- 
serving, in book form, a record of certain facts con- 
cerning the sufferings of Friends in the South, during 
the war of 1861-65. Others have begun the work, 
but from various causes they have thus far failed to 
complete it. 

As years have passed, the opportunities for gaining 
reliable information have become less and less favor- 
able, on account of the death of some of those who, 
" for conscience toward God, endured grief, suffering 
wrongfully." To delay longer would make the task of 
writing such a book still more difficult. \, 

This work has therefore been undertaken with the 
desire to preserve for coming generations this portion 
of a hitherto unwritten history. 

To all those who have so kindly aided in the pre- 
paration of the manuscript, the writer would hereby 
express his appreciation and gratitude ; and it is his 
hope that the deeply interesting nature of the subject 
may induce the critical reader to pass lightly over the 
numerous defects which may be discovered in the work. 



/ 



PREFACE. 



Above all, he desires that the book may be an in- 
strument in the hand of God to convince the minds of 
many of the reasonableness of peace and the un- 
righteousness of war. 




ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



Peaceable reign of Christ. — Slowness of Christians to accept 
Christ's teachings. — Early Christians. — Non-resistants 
in all ages. — Charles V. of Germany saw its foolishness. 
— George Fox teaching peace ; remarkable effect. — Im- 
prisoned. — Pall Mall Gazette's opinion of him. — His 
followers everywhere have maintained the doctrine. — 
Whitefield. — Mason and Slidell taken from British ves- 
sel. — Liability of war. — Friends' petitions for peace. — 
Acknowledgment of A. Lincoln. — Speeches at Peace 
Congress at Chicago. — Hugh Price Hughes' opinion of 
the Friends. — Behring Sea trouble. — Five Christian 
nations have had 75 wars in 80 years. — More than two 
hundred controversies settled by arbitration. — Opinions 
of Prince Albert, General Grant, General Lee. — Inter- 
view of Generals Scott and Lee at AVashington. — Num- 
ber killed and wounded in war of '61. — Secretary's report 
of cost of war of '61. — Edward L. Fox's return of prize 
money. — Lukens Iron and Steel Company. — Exjjendi- 
tures of different countries for education and war. — 
Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting's minute. — European coun- 
tries' burden. — Krupp Gun ; cost and expense of firing ; 
destructive power. — Other recent inventions. — Cost to 
United States in 1893 on account of war measures. — 
Pensions. — Military training. — Boys' brigades . . . 1-23 

CHAPTER IL 

Arrival of Friends in America. — Sent back to England. — 
Returned witli others. — Established churches from North 
Carolina to Georgia. — Settlement of Rliode Island, Penn- 
sylvania and Carolina by Friends. — Landing of William 



viii ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. 

Penn. — Ilis peaceful government. — Duponceaii's ad- 
dress in 1821. — Henry Phillips, first Friend settled in 
Carolina. — Williant Edmondson, first Friend preacher in 
Carolina. — Appearance of his congregations. — John 
Archdale appointed Governor. — His letter to George Fox 
concerning improved condition of Indians. — Prophetic 
spirit of Friend ministers. — Mahlon Hockett preaching. 

— Joseph Hoag's two visions concerning civil war. — 
Abolition of slavery. — Eli Jones' speech in Maine legis- 
lature 24-39 

CHAPTER III. 

Founders of the Government expected slavery to be abol- 
ished. — Opinion of Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry, 
James Madison. — Population of Virginia compared with 
New York. — North Carolina and Massachusetts. — 
Charleston once an importing city. — Southern States' 
early advantages. — Small number of Southern slave- 
holders. — Attention given to politics. — Offices in govern- 
ment largely filled by them. — Small renumeration for 
labor in the South. — Slaves' contempt for poor whites. — 
Free schools not advocated by slaveholders. — Danger- 
ous to speak against slavery. — Jesse Whalen banished. 

— Daniel AVorth imprisoned. — Slaves forbidden to read. 

— Preachers taught they had no souls. — U. S. laws 
framed for slaveholders. — Northern men liable to im- 
prisonment for aiding slaves. — Col. Uteley fined in the 
United States courts. — " The Philanthropist." — First 
abolition society, 1785. — First anti-slavery society, 1833. 

— Society for gradual emancipation, 18G3. — Slaveholders 
form a manumission and colonization society. — Fi'iends 
withdrew. — Virginia legislature favors it. — American 
Colonization Society formed in Washington. — INIanagers 
all slaveholders. — Popidar, North and South. — Formed 
colony in Africa. — Negroes kidnapped there. — School- 
teacher sells children. — 8000 slaves promised in four 
months at Moravia. — Appropriations of United States, 
Maryland and Vii-ginia, for the society's use. — Wilber- 
force deceived. — AA'illiam Allen's opinion concerning it. 

— Op])osod to abolition society. — Liberation of slaves by 
Friends. — Prophetic voice of preachers warning Friends 

to fiec the judgments of the Almighty 40-68 






ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. ix 

CHAPTER IV. 

Stringent laws against slaves. — Laws in Washington. — 
Wasliington one of the greatest slave markets. — Slave- 
factory of Franklin and Arinfield. — Loss of the "Big 
Comet " with 160 slaves. — Northern men not all aboli- 
tionists. — Persecntion of George Thompson. — Garrison 
mobbed and imprisoned. — Anti-slavery society in Haver- 
hill. — Attempt to mob Mr. May and John G. Whittier. 
Attempt to establish colored school in New Haven. — 
Teacher imprisoned. — Office of the " Philantlu-ojiist " in 
Cincinnati ransacked. — Mott sisters. — Josephine Grif- 
fith. — Laura Haviland. — Kentucky kidnappers offer 
$3000 for her head. — Stealing colored people from 
Raisin Valley, Mich. — Thomas Garret. — Bold delivery 
of captives. — Shrewd management in liberating a colored 
woman. — Fined !$3000. — John Fairchild. — Shipping 
slaves from Washington and Baltimore. — Narrow escapes. 

— Liberated slaves from every Southern State. — Finally 
shot. — Fear of negro insurrection by southern whites. — 
Reign of terror at Natchez. — Negroes whipped and hung 
every Saturday. — Large amounts offered for their free- 
dom. • — Case of Eliza Garner. — Attempt to kill her child. 

— Tried in Cincinnati, but given back to her owner, 
and taken south. — Jumps overboard and drowns her 
babe , 69-94 

CHAPTER V. 

Levi Coffin. — Early home. — Coffles of slaves. — Carolina 
corn-husking. — First slave freed by. — Removal West. 

— Underground railroad. — His house a union station. — 
Threatened with hanging and shooting. — Largest com- 
pany of fugitives entertained by him. — Flight of slaves 
through the cornfield. — Pursued and some shot. — Cared 
for. — Sent on their way. — - Continued pursuit. — Safely 
hidden. — Man came to help Levi Coffin fight. — Origin of 
the term "Underground Railroad." — Tried. — Evidence 
of slaves not accepted. — Case dismissed. — Colored Jim. 

— Thousands of refugees landed in Canada. — First 
paper published advocating free - labor goods. — John 
Woolman's journal. — Read by Levi Coffin. — Abstains 
from using product of slave-labor. — Opens in Cincinnati 



X ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. 

free-labor goods store. — Emancipation proclamation ruins 
Untlergroiuul Railroad. — Levi Coffin visits England, 
Scotland and France. — Large and successful meetings. 

— Rapid advancement of freed people. — Death of Levi 
Coffin 95-116 

CHAPTER VI. 

Location of Friends in the South. — Order of churcli govern- 
ment. — Friends North and South divided only by geogra- 
phical lines. — No Friends voted for secession. — Popular 
votes in North Carolina against it. — Influence of Friends 
prevents passage of a law requiring every citizen above 
16 years of age to renounce all allegiance to tlie United 
States. — Minute of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. — 
Committee of Friends visits the Confederate Congress. — 
Passage of law exempting Friends and Dunkards from 
service. — Ishani Cox willing to fight single-handed all 
the true Friends in the Northern army. — Abraliam Lin- 
coln and others of his cabinet descendants of Friends. — 
Called " the Quaker war-cabinet." — Secretary Stanton's 
proposition to relieve Friends. — Conference of the yearly 
meetings' committees in Baltimore. — Account given by 
Francis T. King. — Visit of Eliza P. Gnrney to Abraham 
Lincoln. — Her letter. — His reply. — Elizabeth L. Com- 
stock's service. — Her appeal from army chaplains to 
Abraham Lincoln. — His authority obtained for whatever 
service she desired. — Request to pray for him . — Death 
three days after 117-138 

CHAPTER VII. 

Confederate Government's act relating to non-combatants. 

— Minutes of North Carolina Yearly Meeting relative 
thereto. — Great temptation to purchase religious liberty. 

— Severe test to which Friends were put. — Parties at- 
temping to leave arrested and brouglit back. — Many hard- 
ships undergone by those endeavoring to escape. — Many 
besides Friends hiding in caves and woods. — Passage of 
conscript law. -^ Formation of companies of home guards. 

— Friends much reduced by emigration. — Those left 
mostly in rural districts. — Many did not approve severe 
treatment of non-combatants. — Governor Worth's letter. 

— Experience of Jesse Buckner. — Experience of a nou- 



k 



ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xi 

combatant Methodist liberated by efEorts of Friends.— 
Minnte of North Carolina Yearly Meeting . . . 139-153 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Southern prisons. — Those responsible for their management 
passed away. — Most if not all met violent death. — 
Letter from T. H. Mann. — J. H. Winder declared he 
killed more Yankees in prison than the army did in battle. 

— Shooting by Wirz of prisoners. — G. N. Gidney's terrible 
experience. — Reports of Southern officials relative to con- 
dition of prison and hospitals. — Description of Salisbury 
prison. — No wish to cast unjust reflections. — Prison 
guards composed largely of boys, careless of human life. 
Order of Gen. Winder concerning the murder of help- 
less prisoners. — Men put in dead-house while they were 
livino-. — An instance. — Rude way of handling bodies. — 
Kind of food given the prisoners. — Vermin cover the 
ground. — Efforts to dig tunnels. — Escaped men caught 
by bloodhounds. — Official reports of Wirz. — Wicked- 
ness among the prisoners. — Organization of police force. 

— Hanging of culprits. — Order of Wirz to shoot pris- 
oners. — Salisbury cemetery 154-177 

CHAPTER IX. 

Holly Spring neighborhood. — Description of meeting-house 
and o-raveyard. — All men between 18 and 35 ordered to 
appear at the court-house. — Generation after generation 
taught principles of peace. — Some of the Friends answered 
the call ; stated their objections to war. — Told the army 
was no place for religion. —First draft. — Some Friends 
included. — Some went West. — Their guide captured 
and shot. — Forty-three names given of Friends drafted 
from this place. — Proposed to serve the Prince of Peace 
and not the god of war. — Laws of nations violated in 
arresting those who had been furnished substitutes. — 
17 year old boy's experience. — The "Bull Pen," where 
they punished old men and women. — One mother hung. — 
Levi Cox. —United States postmaster. — Gideon Macon 
taken to the army. — Refuses to take a gun, or place as 
cook. — Bucked down. — Process described. — Army re- 
treats. — Orders to hang him. — Yankees appear. — 
Hurried on. — Luprisoned at Petersburg. — J. J. Allen's 



xii ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. 

experience. — Southern pulpits used for war purposes. — 
Ahijah Macon conscripted. — Efforts of schoolmate to 
get him released. — Convinced that he would be released 
by death. — Directions as to his own burial. — Taken 
to the army. — Only cane-seed ineal to eat. — Died in 
the hospital. — Isaiah Macon, remarkably sensitive. — 
Captured by home guard. — Not allowed to sec his wife 
and children. — In the battle of Winchester. — Put into 
front to stop bullets. — Men shot all around him. — Took 
no part in battle. — Taken prisoner. — Died in Point Look- 
out prison 178-194 

CHAPTER X. 

Arrest of Hinshaw brothers and Barker brothers. — Hurried 
march, 32 miles, to railroad station. — Thomas Hinshaw's 
wife follows with food and clothing. — She cares for the 
farm. Men packed in freight-cars like cattle. — No food 
or drink for 34 hours. — Would not accept military equip- 
ments or clothing. — Offered release upon payment of 
§500. — Plead religious liberty. — Freedom to obey Christ 
should not be purchased with money. — Would suffer 
cheerfully the penalty. — Lieutenant determined to break 
them in. — Soldiers ordered to run them through. — Tied 
behind wagon. — Must help load fodder or be pitched into 
the river. — Welcomed back by the men of their company. 

— Tried to get them to run away. — A furlough granted 
for fifteen days. — Efforts made to have them pay the tax 
and not return. — Great trial, but they went back. — No 
military duty ever required. — Regiment engaged at 
Gettysburg. — All officers of the regiment above the lieu- 
tenant killed. — Repeatedly ordered to tlie front. — Made 
up their minds not to go unless guarded. — Taken pris- 
oners. — Solomon Frazier arrested. — Taken to Salisbury 
prison. — Would not act as guard. — Bucked down. — 
Suspended by hands. — Heavy piece of wood tied around 
his neck. — Pierced with bayonet. — Gagged with bayonet. 

— Raised upon a cross in imitation of Christ. — In a bar- 
rel shirt. — Must now take a gun or die. — Kept prisoner 
imtil surrender of Salisbury. — Jesse Milton Blair. — 
Taken to army near Petersburg. — Given coarse corn- 
bread and sorghum molasses. — Refuses a gun. — Soldier 
ordered to knock him down. — Refuses to march in drill. 



k 



ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xui 

— Pierced with bayonet. — Hung up by his thumbs for 
two hours. — Given one hundred lashes on bare back. — 
Strap fastened around his neck and hung to the limb of a 
tree. — Becomes unconscious. — Taken to hospital. — 
Visited by Joseph Hockett. — Retreat of Lee's army. — 
Return home. — Marlborough meeting. — Arrest of mem- 
bers. — Letter from S. W. Loflin, and J. A. Hill. — Lof- 
lin's persecution. — Kept from sleep 36 hours. — Pierced 
with bayonets. — Court-martialed. — Sentence of death. 

— Army summoned. — Soldiers detailed. — Prayed for 
them. — Soldiers refuse to shoot. — Sent to Windsor hos- 
pital. — Long illness and death 195-213 

CHAPTER XL 

Back Creek neighborhood. — Deep River. — Meeting-house 
described. — Amusing story. — Experience of Jones 
brothers. — Original discharge from Confederate army. — 
Deep Creek neighborhood. — Letter of Isham Cox. — 
Lewis Caudle in battle. — New Garden meeting. — Isaac 
Harvey ; discouraged ; takes a gun ; disowned by the 
Church. — One of the first killed in battle. — Only in- 
stance of the kind. — Spring meeting. — John Newlin's 
six sons. — Error in exemption laws. — Four Woody 
brothers' experience. — Three Hobson brothers attempt 
to go West. — Arrested by sheriff. — Start again. — 
Taken to the army, — Mahlon Thompson and Joshua 
Kemp ; cross the mountains. — Arrested by army officers. 

— Taken to battle at Fredericksburg. — Assist the 
wounded. — Cane Creek. — Joseph Dixon, a Friend elder. 

— Attempt to hang him. — Prays for his enemies. — 
Robbed and released. — Hanging of Micajah Mc- 
Pherson. — Murder of Joseph Dixon's son. — Account of 
Joseph Dixon's last day on earth 214-230 

CHAPTER XIL 

William B. Hockett. — Conscripted. — Returned home. — 
Vision. — Wife's encouragement. — Taken to Greensboro. 

— Said Christianity and war as far apart as Heaven and 
Hell. — Quotations from diary. — Assigned to 21st North 
Carolina. — Before Colonel Kirkland. — Refuses to pay 
out. — Refuses a gun. — Asked whether he would rather 
be shot that night or the next morning. — Chooses neither. 



xiv ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. 

— Sent to the wagon yard. — Refuses to take a soldier's 
place. — Reported to the Colonel. — Copy of prayer 
written that night. — Taken out to be shot. — Soldiers 
detailed. — Prayed, " Father, forgive them." — Men 
could not shoot. — Attempt to make him carry a gun, 
and walk in drill. — Officer's attempt to ride over him. — 

— Horse will not step on him. — Struck on the head 
with gun. — Soldiers ordered to run him through. — Gun 
placed against his back. — Soldier will not shoot. — Left 
by the roadside. — Walks into camp with gun tied to 
him. — Battle of Gettysburg. — Refuses to cook or carry 
water. — Cares for sick Dunkard who will not fight. — 
Terrible scenes of battle. — Taken prisoner. — Placed in 
Fort Delaware. — Visited by Robert Pearsall Smith and 
others. — Paper prepared for government authorities. — 
Extracts from journal. — Liberated by order of Secretary 
of War. — Among Philadelphia Friends. — Sent West. — 
Retui'ns to North Carolina. — Found, as had been 
promised, all well 231-253 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Himelius and Jesse Hockett. — Conscripted. — Ordered to 
take a gun or accept work. — Declined on account of re- 
ligious scruples. — Told they may embrace such religion 
as they please when the war is over. — Sent to prison. — 
Sent home. — Again conscripted. — Refuse to take gun or 
walk in drill. — Soldiers run bayonets through their 
clothing. — Sent to Kinston. — Bible discussion. — Re- 
fused food or drink until they obeyed Gen. Ransom's 
orders. — Give up food brought from home. — H. M. 
Hockett's account of their experience. — Argument with 
preachers. — Remarkably preserved. — Need of any 
earthly thing little felt. — Plot to release them. — Ran- 
som's sentence revoked by Governor Vance. — Letters 
written by H. M. Hockett to his wife and father. — Gen- 
eral Daniel proposes to place them where they will serve 
as breastworks to stop bullets. — General Daniel soon 
killed in battle. — Made to march the streets of Kinston 
with logs tied to them. — II. M. Hockett tried by court- 
martial. — Offered a lawyer. — Pleads his own case. — 
Visits from Friend ministers. — Called with others to 
receive sentence. — Some branded with hot iron. — He 



ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xv 

sentenced to six months' hard labor, bound with ball and 
chain. — Officers recommend clemency. — Jefferson Davis 
declines to sign recommendation. — Jesse Hockett cruelly 
pierced with bayonets. — Taken to Fort Caswell. — Colonel 
Jones very kind. — Manacled with chain attached to 
heavy ball. — Much interest in the Christian prisoner. — 
Religious discussion with soldiers and officers. — Kind- 
ness of officers and men. — Not required to do any work. 

— Sent back to Wilmington. — Sleeps with his guard. — 
Placed behind the iron doors in Wilmington. — Brother 
Jesse brought to him from Kinston. — Kindness of Major 
Sparrow. — Sent to Goldsboro. — Visited by wife and son. 

— Given liberty of the city. — Prison seems like mission 
fields. — Discharged. — Women plough the fields, and 
support the families 254-285 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Centre meeting. — Members arrested. — None made to 
fight. — Springfield meeting. — First Bible School. — 
Only one continued during the war. — School enrolled 
three hundred. — A. U- Tomlinson & Sons' Tannery and 
Shoe Factory keep many men out of army. — Friends sent 
to Salisbury prison. — F. S. Blair conscripted when only 
17 years old. — Friends' horses taken while riding from 
meeting. — Persons liable to arrest for unguarded speech. 

— Rufus P. King. — Conscripted. — Attached to Petti- 
grew's brigade. — Under Captain Jennings. — Sickness 
and death of Captain Jennings. — Rufus's care of him. 

— Return home. — Converted. — Joined the Methodist 
Church. — Conscientious scruples against fighting. — De- 
tailed as nurse. — At Gettysburg. — Prayer for dying 
lieutenant. — Night spent in trying to relieve the wounded 
and dying upon the battle-field. — Next day's terrible 
work. — Wounded and dying by the roadside. — Cap- 
tured. — Imprisoned at Point Lookout. — Closed many 
eyes in death. — Sent by ship to Savannah. — Again 
taken from home. — Returned to camp. — Way being 
opened, he went over to the Yankees. — Would not swear. 

— Passed outside of the army. — Found a home at Mill 
Creek, Indiana. — Taken to a Bible School. — Learned to 
read. — Received into Friends' Church. — Sent to school. 

— Recorded as minister. — Travels in different lauds 286-298 



xvi ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Tennessee. — A few Fi'iends remaiiiiug. — All refusing to 
be registered ordered treated as deserters. — Of 1000 
men iu Blunt County only 20 appeared for registration. 

— In Green County about 20 Friends subject to con- 
scription. — Five paid gold. — Account of James F. Beals. 

— Cave discovered by J. Beals. — Made habitable. — 
Fourteen Friends secreted. — Kept for nearly a year. — 
Some escape West, some captured. — A boy of 19 years 
dwelt in a cave of his own making. — Friendsville. — 
William Forster's grave. — William J. Hackney. — Ar- 
ranged to secrete men in cave near his house. — 50 men 
soon hidden in it. — Started on tlie Underground Railroad 
West. — Cave again filled. — Over 2000 men thus cared 
for. — Under suspicion. — General Burnside wishes to 
appoint William Hackney a staff officer. — Would re- 
ceive no remuneration for his service to the government. 

— Confiscation of property of Union sympathizers. — 
Case of AVilliam Morgan. — Attempt to shoot Riley T. 
Lee. — Soldiers destroy poor woman's property. — Lost 
Creek meeting. — Soldiers destroy building and library. 

— Women compelled to cook for them. — Property taken 
without recompense 299-315 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Tilghman Ross Vestal unwilling to shed blood. — Con- 
scripted. — Sent home. — Again conscripted. — Among 
his relatives prominent Friends. — Letter from Major 
Venable. — Letter from T. R. Vestal to John B. Cren- 
shaw. — Sentenced to be punished until he bear arms. — 
Said he was a Christian and could not fight. — Knocked 
down repeatedly. — Given in charge of another officer. — 
Pierced with a bayonet 17 times. — Sent to Richmond. — 
Imprisoned. — Sent to Salisburj'. — Terribly beaten for 
trying to remove vermin from liis own person. — Liber- 
ated by intervention of Friends. — Account quoted from 
" Nashville Banner " by Brigadier-General Maney . . 316-326 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Virginia. — Friends' meetings established. — No more wel- 
come than in Boston. — Extravagant stories believed. — 



ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xvii 

Copy of an act for the suppression of the Quakers. — 
Nothing prevents them from coming. — By patient suffer- 
ing conquer unrighteous laws. — Large tracts of land 
taken by Friends. — Become slaveholders. — In 1817 all 
Virginia Friends free their slaves. — Large emigration of 
Friends. — Winchester. — Washington's headquarters. — 
Banishment of Philadelphia Friends to Winchester. — 
General Morgan. — Afraid in time of battle. — Winches- 
ter taken by the contending forces 76 times. — All men 
between 16 and 60 out to fight the Yankees. — Robert 
Griffith and Governor Halliday. — Aaron Griffith's letter 
taken from the mail. — Made cause of complaint. — He 
imprisoned. — Mill robbed. — Factory robbed. — Ma- 
chinery taken away. — Liberated by Southern officer. — 
House frequently visited by soldiers. — Doors barred. — 
Attempt to obtain entrance by claiming to be Friends. — 
Old-fashioned meeting-house, overlooking Shenandoah 
Valley. — Quarterly meeting. — John Scott preaching. — 
Battle going on the same time. — Terrible shock of 
battle. ■ — Francis T. King present. — Congregation quiet. 

— Two days' journey to get around the army. — Friend 
Griffith could not return for over three months. — Futile 
attempt to take his sister's horse.- — Jesse Wright's house 
frequently shot over by both armies. — Officers and men 
of both armies entertained there. — His sons escape. — 
Jesse Wright passes picket lines to care for the dead. 

— On his return arrested and put in jail. — Remained 
three days. — Joseph M. Jolliffe. — His vote only one cast 
for Lincoln in Frederick County. — Left home. — Attempt 
of wife and children to flee with retreating army. — Re- 
turn home. — Battle fought around their house. — None 
of the family hurt. — Dreadful scenes. — Friend Jolliffe 
before General Early. — Released and admonished to 
pray for the Confederacy. — General Breckinridge's 
headquarters in Jolliffe's yard. — Elizabeth Comstock and 
other Friends visit General Sheridan 327-344 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Small meetings in Virginia. — Nathaniel Crenshaw liber- 
ates many slaves. — John B. Crenshaw's time given to 
assisting unfortunates. — Assists North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting's committees. — He edits the " Southern Friend." 



XX ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. 

ernment. — General Sherman's estimate of damage. — 
William Cox. — Battle of Bentonsville watched from 
windows. — Women and children under beds. — Bullets 
rained upon the house. — Accounts given by wife and 
daughter. — Isaac Cox visited by soldiers. — Robbed. 

— Visit of soldiers to L. J. Moore's. — Sausage man 
astride a horse. — Everything taken. — Jesse HoUowell. 

— His wife instructs aristocratic neighbors in the art of 
carding, spinning and weaving. — Men and women shoe- 
makers. — End of the war near. — Slaveholders think 
their property safer in Friends' houses. — Soldiers know 
no difference. — Robbed of horses, buggies and every- 
thing. — Description by his son. — United States issues 
rations to citizens. — Visited by Friends from Baltimore 
Association. — Account of their arrival. — Time of sur- 
render of the Confederate forces 415-427 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Purpose of this Book. — Visit to Southern battle-fields. — 
Awfulness of war seen. — Description of Fredericks- 
burg. — St. Mary's Heights. — Confederate and Federal 
cemeteries. — 12,000 graves marked " unknown." — Five 
bloody battles. — George Whitefield's curse on Fredericks- 
burg. — Remarkable fulfillment. — London " Times' " 
account of the battle of Fredericksburg. — Account as 
given by the Richmond " Examiner." — The Irish brigade. 

— Number of Union men lost. — Discouraging outlook. — 
Stone River. — "Fighting Joe" Hooker takes command. 

— Army defeated at Chancellorsville. — Abraham Lincoln 
greatly distressed. — Meade takes command. — Officers 
refuse to take their men into action at Mine Run. — 
Battle of the Wilderness. — Deadly hand-to-hand conflict. 

— No cavalry, no artillery. — No victory for either side. 

— 70 men claim the promise of God in Psalm xci. 7. 

— All spared. — Spottsylvania, most deadly and fiercest 
battle of the war. — Grant goes South and Fredericksburg 
rests from the sound of battle. — Dreadfid loss at Cold 
Harbor. — Soldiers refuse to renew the attack. — Com 
parison of Esdraelon with the plain below St. Mary's 
Heights. — The curse of King David on the plain of 
Esdraelon 428-442 



ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xxi 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Francis T. King. — His conversion. — Business Life. — 
Peace principles. — Retires from business. — Philan- 
thropist. ^- Influence among officials. — Advice against 
Maryland's secession. — Excitement in the city. — Pass- 
ing of troops to Washington. — First bloodshed. — Quiet 
gathering of Friends to worship. — Frequently visits 
Washington. — Visit to Point Lookout prison. — Excellent 
condition of same. — Liability of the South being aban- 
doned by Friends. — Keeps himself informed as to this 
condition. — Conceived the idea of helping them at 
home. — Organization of Baltimore Association. — Letter 
to John B. Crenshaw. — Friends North and South not 
divided. — Condition and location of Friends' meetings. 

— Visited by John Scott and Joseph Moore. — Joseph 
Moore appointed as superintendent for Baltimore Associ- 
ation. — Friends' boarding-school continued through the 
war. — Normal school started. — Visited by Governor. — 
Work of repairing old schoolhouses and building new. — 
Travels of superintendent. — More attention given to 
coloi'ed children than white. — Professor Moore called to 
presidency of Earlhara College. — Allen Jay appointed in 
his place. — Institutes and conferences held. — Much at- 
tention given to Bible schools. — Minutes from the records 
of Baltimore meetings. — Appeal for aid liberally re- 
sponded to. — First Normal School ever held in North 
Carolina. — Model farm. — Growth of the schools. — 
Large sums spent. — Schools and colleges still being 
maintained. — Increase of membership in North Carolina. 

— Number of meeting-houses built. — Better condition 
of farms. — Per cent of population who can read and write 
largely increased. — Interest in education more general. 

— Guilford College. — Normal School becomes a State 
institution. — Friends no longer a dependent body. — Aid 

in missionary and general church work 443-480 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Friends' Meeting-House at New Garden, N. C. Erected in 

1791 Frontispiece. 

Dr. Nereus Mendenhall 118 

John Carter 



ISHAM Cox 

John B. Crenshaw 



} ....... 12G 



Allen U. Tomlinson J 

A Friends' Meeting "of the olden time" . . . 214 

William B. Hockett 232 

H. M. Hockett 254 

EuFus P. King 290 

Francis T. Kino 448 



INTRODUCTION. 

The annals of Christianity contain numberless in- 
stances of cruel persecution heroically and patiently 
endured, but it is doubtful if any of these in any age 
have been more striking and painfully instructive 
than those recorded in the pages of this book. To 
most of us, persecution on account of loyalty to Chris- 
tian principle, at least in its more cruel physical 
aspects, seems to belong to a far-away past age, or to 
dark and barbarous countries. We should refuse to 
believe the stories of inhuman treatment recorded in 
the chapters of " Southern Heroes," if the evidence 
were not so overwhelming. How is it possible that 
such things can have happened here in a country 
which has made civil and religious liberty its boast for 
a century ? The account must be wrong, we are 
tempted to say. It must have been long ago and in 
some other country that these dreadful deeds were 
done. No ; they were done here, within the memory 
of livino- men. The witnesses are so numerous that 
no one can doubt. Some of the sufferers still live and 
bear in their bodies the " marks " of the fearful ordeal. 

No one can tell when the line of martyrs for the 
sake of religious freedom and civil liberty will be 
ended. Human wickedness is still the same in spirit 
that it has heretofore been, and martyrdom does not 



xxvi INTRODUCTION. 

always come in the same form. It is permitted, how- 
ever, to hope that in civilized lands there will never 
again be material for the writing of such a book as 
this. Plowever that may be, it is well that this story, 
or series of stories, has been written down. It is 
highly instructive from many standpoints. It is a 
part of the history of our country's struggles for and 
progress toward real freedom, the depth of whose 
meaning has as yet been but imperfectly understood. 
It is also an instructive illustration, not so ancient as 
to have lost any of its force, of the power of Chris- 
tianity to transform men and to lift them above the 
selfish and cowardly weakness which yields quickly 
to worldly enticements, slavishly " follows the crowd," 
or cowers before the threats and the lash of tyran- 
nous authority. 

The Southern Friends, some of whom the reader 
will come to know and admire, have given us not only 
a remarkable exhibition of steadfast loyalty to prin- 
ciple in the midst of great trials, but also an extra- 
ordinary manifestation of divine protection and care 
in time of peril. It is, of course, theoretically pos- 
sible to account for all their marvelous deliverances 
from violent death by the mere doctrine of chances. 
But no one who believes in the providences of God 
and understands anything of the ordinary course of 
unregenerate human nature, especially when hardened 
by a long training in brutality, will be able to accept 
any such trivial explanation of these remarkable facts 
as that offered by the theory of chance. If God ever 
interfered in behalf of true and faithful men, he inter- 



INTRODUCTION. xxvii 

f ered in behalf of these ; and his signal protection 
and deliverance of them, under such varied circum- 
stances of peculiar danger, may fairly be taken as an 
evidence of his approval not only of their loyalty to 
what they believed to be right but also of the prin- 
ciples themselves for which they suffered. There are 
in the annals of the Friends other instances of like 
extraordinary deliverance in connection with the main- 
tenance of their peace principles, but in none of these 
cases did political hatred, selfish prejudices, military 
tyranny and pure maliciousness so combine to render 
the danger exceptionally great as in the examples now 
before us. The deliverance of the Friends in the 
South was for this reason all the more marked, and 
the protective value of peace principles when faithfully 
practiced brought into all the greater prominence. 

There is another feature of the ease of these South- 
ern peace-men which makes it, if possible, still more 
interesting and instructive, viz., their thorough patri- 
otism and loyalty to the Union. It has often been 
charged that non-resistant peace-men are bad patriots, 
real enemies to their country. Nothing could be 
farther from the truth. The reader of the following 
pages will discover that there were no finer exhibi- 
tions of loyalty and genuine love of country during 
the fierce struggle of the civil war than those made 
by the Southern Friends. Their patriotism was an 
intelligent and discriminating one, founded ou princi- 
ple, and no blast from the hot furnace of persecution 
was able in the least to make it yield. They were the 
foes of secession and disunion as much as of slavery. 



xxviii INTRODUCTION. 

When the storm of war was about to break and all 
other voices were growing silent, they continued to 
the last moment to utter their protest against the mad 
course on which the South was entering. When the 
tides of strife and persecution were surging about 
them, their lips were generally sealed through pru- 
dence, but no amount of suffering or enticement could 
force them open in behalf of rebellion. The reader 
will be inclined to think that they did as much in 
their own way to weaken and cripple the rebellion, to 
bring on the overthrow of slavery and to save the 
Union as any other body of men of equal numbers in 
any part of the land. It is right, therefore, to record 
their names, every one of them, in the catalogue of 
oflr truest national heroes. 

The author of this work has had exceptional oppor- 
tunities of learning the exact nature of the facts which 
he records, and his statements of the character and ex- 
tent of the sufferings and trials not only of those whom 
he mentions but also of the whole body of the Friends 
in the South may be credited as in every instance 
substantially correct. Though making no pretense of 
general historical knowledge or literary culture, he 
has succeeded in bringing together in a simple and 
natural way, which must please every reader, the chief 
events of this hitherto unwritten portion of the history 
of the great struggle which a generation ago shook 
our national structure to its very foundation. 

B. F. T. 

Boston, August, 1895. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 



CHAPTER I. 

" Shall the sword devouj- forever ? " 

' ' Put up the sword ! " The voice of Christ once more 
Speaks, m the pauses of the cannon's roar, 
O'er fields of corn by fiery sickles reaped 
And left dry ashes ; over trenches heaped 
With nameless dead ; o'er cities starving slow 
Under a rain of fire ; through wards of woe 
Down which a groaning diapason runs 
From tortured brothers, husbands, lovers, sons 
Of desolate women in their far-off homes, 
Waiting to hear the step that never comes. 
0, men and brothers ! let that voice be heard. 
War fails, try peace ; put up the useless sword ! 

Whittier. 

When tlie advent of Christ was announced to the 
shepherds upon Judea's plains, suddenly there ap- 
peared unto them a multitude of the Heavenly Host, 
proclaiming the Gospel of Peace in the joyful song, 
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth Peace, 
good will toward men." 

The King of kings descended to earth that " the 
kingdoms of this world might become the kingdoms 
of our Lord and of His Christ." " He came not to 
conquer by force of arms, but by the power of love 



2 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

untl truth to establish His kingdom amono- men." 
With a chosen few He went from place to place, 
preaching His Gospel, speaking- as never man spake ; 
and yet, as one having authority, He commanded : 
" Thou shalt not kill ; " " Put up thy sword into the 
sheath ; " " Love your enemies, bless them that curse 
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them 
which despitefully use you and persecute you." 

Strange indeed to the Roman soldier who asked, 
" What shall we do ? " was John's reply, " Do violence 
to no man," The Jews were slow to comprehend the 
law of their King, " I say unto you, resist not evil," 
The law of love was to take the place of the old-time 
saying, " An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." 
Although our Saviour taught so plainly the duty of 
non-resistance, few received his teaching; and even 
now, while admitting the beauty of it, many, in their 
worldly wisdom, question or deny its practicability. 
To these He would say, " The wisdom of this world is 
foolishness with God." 

So fully has the war system been accepted as a 
necessity, in some ages, that to be a minister of Jesus 
Christ, and an officer or soldier in the army at the 
same time, was not considered, by the church in gen- 
eral, an inconsistency. Notwithstanding the slowness 
of Christians to accept the doctrine of non-resistance, 
" Rev, Col, Barton " would sound strange in the ears 
of this generation, and the titles seem hardly fitting 
to the same man ; yet Colonel Barton, of the seven- 
teenth century, was a regularly ordained minister in 
the church. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 3 

Christian nations have so far seen the incompat- 
ibility of war and Christianity, that ministers of the 
gos^^el are now ahnost universally exempt from mili- 
tary duty. Thomas Clarkson says : " In the first two 
centuries, when Christianity was the purest, there are 
no Christian soldiers on record. The war degeneracy 
of the church began very early in the third century, 
and went so far in the fourth, that under and after 
Constantino the Great, Christians engaged in war, as 
they generally have ever since." In all ages of the 
Christian era, however, there have been those who, 
accepting the teaching of our Saviour, have had the 
boldness to declare, " I am a Christian, therefore I 
cannot fight." 

Charles V. of Germany, in his declining years, re- 
signed his high office in favor of his son, and under- 
took as a pastime to so regulate a number of watches 
as to have them perfectly agree. After a great deal 
of patient effort he is said to have remarked, as he 
laid down his tools, " What a fool I have been to shed 
so much innocent blood in trying to make men think 
alike, when I cannot make a few watches agree in 
keeping time." 

More than two hundred years ago, during the time 
of Charles I. of England, when all churches believed 
in war and practiced it, there appeared in that coun- 
try a youth who had spent much time in retirement, 
studying his Bible, and prayerfully seeking to know 
the truth of God as there revealed. During the days 
of that iron-hearted puritan soldier, Oliver Cromwell, 
he taught and preached with wonderful clearness and 



4 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

power a doctrine new to the people of that day, who 
had almost lost sight of the spiritual teachings of the 
Son of God. He taught that Jesus Christ not only 
died to atone for our sins, but as a living Saviour de- 
signs to keep us from sinning, and that those who 
accept Him as their guide may be led into all the 
truth. He taught that it is not lawful for a Christian 
to fight, as our Saviour forbade it ; and he sought, 
with remarkable success, to turn men to the light, and 
from dependence upon forms and ceremonies to the 
power of Christ, in which they might live free from 
the power of Satan. 

His teaching produced a remarkable effect upon the 
age in which he lived, and great was the opposition 
he aroused. Priests and stated ministers thought him 
opposed to their systems of religion, as he called them 
from their empty professions to a life of holiness. 
They were sometimes angered, and stirred up the rude 
people to abuse him, and the magistrates to imprison 
him, — which they were not slow to do. Many 
believed him to be opposed to the government, because 
he would not swear allegiance to it. He woidd neither 
take up arms in its defense, nor against it. 

While in prison, the officials offered him a command 
in the army, and the soldiers clamored for him as 
their leader. Although he would have thus been re- 
leased from a filthy prison, where he was confined 
with thirty felons, he replied, " I know whence all 
wars arise, even from lusts, according to James's doc- 
trine ; but I live in the virtue of that life and power 
that takes away the occasion for all war. I am in 
love with all men, and cannot fight against any." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 5 

He was often in prison on account of zealously pre- 
senting the truth, yet Carlyle says of him, " There is 
in broad Europe one free man, — George Fox, the 
greatest of the moderns. He looks heavenward from 
his earth and dwells in an element of mercy and wor- 
ship." The " Pall Mall Gazette " says of him, " Of 
the four great characters of the seventeenth century, 
Cromwell, Milton, Bunyan and Fox, the last has had 
the greatest influence upon the world, and been the 
least recognized by the world." 

At the time of his death his followers numbered 
many tens of thousands, — in England alone nearly a 
hundred thousand, — and were scattered over the 
civilized world. With wonderful zeal and indomi- 
table courage he visited the people, not only of Eng- 
land, but of Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Scot- 
land, America, Barbadoes, Jamaica, and many other 
parts, and pressed upon them the truth of God. He 
planted churches in all these nations, as did his fol- 
lowers in many others. 

So clearly did he impress the doctrine and duty 
of non-resistance, that wherever Friends have existed 
they have been known as being opposed to all wars 
and fightings. In this, with the exception of a few 
Schwenkfeldians, Mennonites, and Dunkards, they 
have stood alone as a Christian org-anization. Thousrh 
small in numbers in comparison with others, their light 
has been steadily shining. Individuals of other 
churches have in many cases come to agree with them, 
and upon many minds the light of this Gospel truth is 
dawnins:. 



6 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Whitefield wrote, " The Quakers have, I think, left 
us an example of patient suffering ; and have done 
more by their bold, unanimous, and persevering testi- 
mony than if they had taken up arms in the king- 
dom." 

The disturbance of good feeling between Great 
Britain and the United States of America in 1861, on 
account of the taking of Mason and Slidell from the 
English mail steamer Trent, by Commander Wilkes of 
the United States war-shij) San Jacinto, at one time 
assumed such serious proportions that a war between 
the two countries seeined imminent. England loaded 
the Great Eastern and sent ten thousand troops from 
her shores to be landed in Canada. The Great East- 
ern being unable to make harbor in Canadian waters, 
the United States consented for her to enter Portland 
harbor, Maine, and ship the soldiers by rail to Can- 
ada. Nevertheless, such was the fear that war might 
be declared, that Friends in England memorialized the 
English Government in the interest of peace and arbi- 
tration. This memorial was forwarded by Friends to 
America, and presented to Abraham Lincoln by a 
delegation from Baltimore. Francis T. King, one of 
the delegation, has left us a very interesting account 
of this matter, which we here quote : 

MASON AXD SLIDELL. 

On the 8th of 11th month, 1861, Captain Wilkes, of the 
U. S. stearaer San Jacinto, intercepted the British steamer 
Trent, and took from her Mason and Slidell and their sec- 
retaries, who were on their way from Havana to England 
as envoys of the Confederacy. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 1 

On the 30th of the same month, Earl Russell wrote to 
Lord Lyons, the British Minister at Washington, saying 
that they presumed Captain Wilkes acted without instruc- 
tions, as it was a violation of international law, and that 
England could not allow such an affront to pass without full 
reparation. 

Through an accident, the Atlantic cable was not working 
at the time, and everything was in susjDense. The Assistant 
Secretary of State said afterwards, that had it been work- 
ing we would have had war with England, as the excite- 
ment was intense, and there would have been no time for 
reflection on either side. 

London Meeting for Sufferings, under date of 12th 
month 9th, presented a memoi'ial to Lord Palmerston, First 
Lord of the Treasury, and Earl Russell, Secretary of State 
for Foreign Affaii-s, in which they plead for peace between 
the two countries, in language that will always be appropri- 
ate. "There are, perhaps," they said, " no two independent 
nations on the face of the earth so closely united together 
as England and America, by the combined ties of blood, of 
language, of religion, of constitutional freedom, and of com- 
mercial interest ; and no two nations between whom a war 
would be a more open scandal to our common Christianity, 
or a more serious injury to the welfare and progress of the 
human race." 

After earnestly pleading for arbitration, If correspondence 
should not effect the happy and peaceful termination of the 
dispute, they add : " We would further suggest that after 
the vast sacrifices which England has made for the abolition 
of the slave trade and slavery in our own possessions and 
by other countries, which has been an object so consistently 
prompted through life by the statesmen whom we are now 
addressing, it would be deeply humiliating if, by being in- 



8 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

volved In this war, our country should ultimately find itself 
in active cooperation with the South and slavery, against 
the North and freedom." 

In conclusion they say, " May He who still ruleth in the 
earth grant that the impending scourge of war may be 
averted from the kindred nations on each side of the Atlan- 
tic, and from the waters of that ocean, which should unite 
rather than divide them." 

A copy of this memorial was sent by London Meeting for 
Sufferings to Baltimore Representative Meeting, with the 
request that it be handed to President Lincoln, with the as- 
surance of their sincere desire and efPort to maintain peace 
between the two countries. James Carey and mysellwere 
appointed to take the memorial to Washington, which we 
did just previous to Secretary Seward's reply to Earl Rus- 
sell's letter. 

When we arrived at the White House, we found the ante- 
rooms crowded with senators, congressmen, and ofiicers of 
the army and navy. It was a time of intense excitement 
and anxiety, and these feelings were shown In the faces of 
every one present. We waited about two hom-s, and had 
almost despaired of an interview, when Senator Sherman 
came out of the President's room. We told him that we 
were very anxious to see the President, as we had a commu- 
nication from Friends in England about the matter of the 
Trent. He quickly said, " You have ? I will see the Pres- 
ident," and In a few minutes, to the surprise of the officials 
around us, who had been waiting longer than ourselves, we 
were Invited In. 

It was the first time I had ever seen President Lincoln. 
He was sitting before an open wood fire. In a large easy 
chair, with that sad, yet strong countenance, which, once 
seen, was never forgotten. He rose and shook hands with 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 9 

us cordially, and readily assented to our reading the paper 
from England, to which he listened attentively. In making 
a few remarks, we stated that the appeal would have the 
support of able Friends in Parliament, among whom was 
John Bright. The President's countenance lighted up at 
the mention of that name, and turning to the senator he 
said, " Sherman, did you know that John Bright was a 
Quaker ? " " Oh, yes ! " " Well, I did not before. I read 
all his speeches, and he knows more of American politics 
than most of the men at the other end of the avenue (point- 
ing towards the Capitol). I appreciate liis great work for 
us in our struggle at home." Turning again to us he said, 
" Give me your address, and I will send you an acknow- 
ledgment of the appeal. These are the first words of cheer 
and encouragement we have had from across the water." 

About two weeks elapsed, and we received the following 
letter : 

Executive Mansion, Washington. 
January 7, 18G2. 

Gentlemen, — It gives me great pleasure to acknow- 
ledge the receipt, through you, of the memorial of the Eng- 
lish Friends in relation to the matter in question between 
the government of Great Britain and that of the United 
States of America. 

Although I trust that any fears entertained of serious de- 
rangement of amicable relations have been without founda- 
tion, I cannot but gratefully appreciate your prompt and 
generous suggestions in the interests of peace and humanity. 
I have the honor to be 

With great respect. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

To Francis T. King and others. 



10 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Secretary Seward happily and promptly settled the Trent 
controversy in a long and able letter, at the close of which 
he said, " If I decide this case (the right of search) in favor 
of my own government, I must disavow its most cherished 
principles and reverse and forever abandon its essential pol- 
icy, and the countiy cannot afford the sacrifice. The pris- 
oners will be cheerfully liberated." 

Many of the forty-two speakers at the Peace Con- 
gress at Chicago in 1893, representing different na- 
tionalities, referred to the fact that Friends had been 
the first to call the attention of their people to the 
principles of peace and arbitration, 

Hugh Price Hughes, the distinguished Methodist 
of London, at the Ecumenical Council at Washing- 
ton, in 1892, said, " The Society of Friends, small in 
numbers though it is, by its teachings on the subject 
of war, has done the world more good than all the sol- 
diers that have ever been engaged in battle." 

The Peace committees of the yearly meetings of 
Friends, the American Peace Society, the Peace Soci- 
ety of London, the Peace Association of Friends in 
America, the Universal Peace Union, the Ecclesiasti- 
cal Peace Conference, with kindred organizations, by 
their publications, speakers, and various untiring 
efforts, have done much for the education of public 
sentiment on this subject. The Women's Christian 
Temperance Union accepts this as a part of its work 
" For God and Home and Every Land." With its 
girdle of Christian influence around the world, it is 
endeavoring to show all governments tliat there is a 
better way than to sacrifice fathers, brothers, husbands, 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 11 

and sons, in attempts to settle national difficulties 
by war. 

Evidences of the growtli of public sentiment in 
favor of peace is seen in tlie fact that the legislative 
bodies of England, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Holland, 
Roumania, Switzerland, and the United States of 
America, have severally passed resolutions in favor of 
arbitration, as being the true policy of nations ; and 
the day is dawning when "Nation shall not lift up 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more." 

In the adjustment of the Behring Sea difficulty be- 
tween the United States and England, there is posi- 
tive proof that grave and serious questions may, by 
submitting them to a court of arbitration, be most 
satisfactorily settled, and the bonds between nations 
strehsfthened rather than weakened. Other nations 
may see by this, as well as by their settlement of the 
Alabama Claims and other differences, that the two 
leading nations of the world are learning that it is 
wiser to settle differences by arbitration than by war. 

Notwithstanding the fact that the five so-called 
Christian nations, — England, France, Russia, Austria 
and Prussia, — have been engaged in seventy-five or 
more wars during the past eighty years, and the 
United States in three, besides Indian skirmishes, 
more than two hundred claims have been settled by 
arbitration within the same time, — some of them of 
so serious a natiu-e as would ordinarily have been con- 
sidered justifiable grounds for war. 

With Prince Albert originated the idea of a World's 



12 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Fair, which was first held in the Crystal Palace, at 
London. Pie is said to have had in mind the thought 
that by thns bringing together men of different na- 
tionalities, the feeling of brotherhood would be in- 
creased, and thereby the day of universal peace would 
be hastened. 

General Grant, in an address to a Philadelphia so- 
ciety, after his return from a voyage around the world, 
said : " Though I have been trained as a soldier and 
have partici})ated in many battles, there never was a 
time when, in my opinion, some way could not have 
been found of preventing the drawing of the sword. 
I look forward to an epoch when a court recognized 
by all nations will settle international differences, in- 
stead of keeping large standing armies, as is done in 
Europe." 

Presidents Hayes and Garfield did not hesitate to 
declare their concurrence in the same opinions, and 
Gen. Robert E. Lee, on the occasion of his resigning 
his position in the United States Army, at the time of 
the outbreak of the war of 1861, in writing to his sis- 
ter in Virginia, said, " I cannot draw the sword against 
my native State, although I'see no need for this state 
of things." 

The world is gradually learning to recognize the 
wisdom of Christ's teaching, and the sentiment of 
Christian nations is much in advance of that of a 
century ago ; far in advance of what it was on that 
day when "To arms, to arms!" was heard all over 
the United States of America, and the strength of 
this country rushed to the conflict as a horse rushes 
to battle. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 13 

On the 27tli of April, 1861, two men of national 
fame, wlio had long been personal friends, educated 
to the same calling and to love the same flag, met in 
the city of Washington. For two hours they were in 
private consultation. Then General Scott and Gen- 
eral Lee took their leave of each other and went forth 
with sad hearts to the command of two armies, in 
which were opposed brothers, fathers, and sons, in 
deadly combat. 

As we look upon America to-day, at peace with all 
the world, we can hardly conceive it possible that 
such a conflict could again take place, a conflict in 
which it is estimated that on the Northern side alone 
seven hundred thousand men were killed in battle, 
maimed for life, or died from disease. Allowing the 
Southern loss to have been equal, and some estimate 
it to have been greater, we have one million four hun- 
dred thousand men — the strength of our land — sac- 
rificed to the god of war. It is estimated that one of 
every ten men engaged was either killed or wounded, 
and one of every sixty-five was killed on the field. 

June 10, 1880, the Secretary of the Treasury of*the 
United States presented to the Senate a statement of 
the expenses gi-owing out of the war on account of the 
Northern army, from July 1, 1861, to June 30, 1879, 
and he gave the amount as $6,796,798,508, which 
he said was sufficient to have purchased every slave 
in the South at five times his market value ; and the 
expense was still being continued. Allowing the 
Soi fch an equal amount for expense and loss, we have 
as a cost of the war over $13,500,000,000, without 



14 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

taking into account the value of wasted country, har- 
vests destroyed, and homes, villages, and towns given 
to the flames. 

No estimate has been or can be made of the suffer- 
ings and the anguish of anxious women bereft of 
their loved ones, and of the struggle for bread by 
those who were robbed of strong arms and the means 
of support by the cruel hand of war. General Sher- 
man well said, " War is cruel, and you cannot refine 
it ! " It is the perfection of cruelty. 

Many, who talk of the ground taken by the advo- 
cates of peace as impolitic, say that the principle 
cannot be maintained in the face of trial, whether it 
be one of danger to property or to life. Many in- 
stances given in these j)ages show that that principle 
may be held dearer than life. We admit that the 
opportunity for making money too often stands in 
the way of obedience to conscientious convictions, yet 
there are many cases of faithfulness to the dictates 
of conscience in spite of apparent moneyed interest. 
Two of these it may be well to record here, as the 
decisions were made in the face of an apparent sacri- 
fice of large gains. 

In 177G, when America was struggling for inde- 
pendence from British ride, France extended to her 
such aid as to result in war between herself and Eng- 
land. Dr. Joseph Fox, a Friend, was pai't owner of 
the Greyhound and the Brilliant, two cutters used in 
trading along the Cornish coast. Custom allowed the 
owners of such cutters to arm them and prey upon 
the enemy, taking prizes. Dr. Fox's partners pro- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 15 

posed thus to fit out and use their vessels. Fox pro- 
tested in vain, and the partners refused either to buy 
or allow him to sell his interest. He was powerless 
to prevent their iniquity, but not obliged to be par- 
taker of its results, and declared that he would not* 
The vessels were successful in cajjturing a number of 
prizes, and Fox's partners, remembering his declara- 
tion, tried to retain all the profits ; but he insisted 
that they should pay over his share to him, which they 
finally did. This he placed at interest in 1778. In 
1783 peace was made, and the next year he sent his 
son. Dr. Edward L. Fox, to Paris to advertise for the 
owners of the plundered property. The proceeding 
was so entirely new that the French authorities sus- 
pected something wrong, and he had to secure liberty 
from the French ministers to advertise the matter. 
They required a formal declaration that his object 
was in truth what he represented it to be, and threat- 
ened him with severe punishment if he practiced any 
deception. Applications were made for the greater 
part of the funds, and all the claims were found to 
be well founded. The recipients caused the facts to 
be published in the " Gazette," wishing, they said, 
" to give the publicity which it merits to this trait of 
generosity and equity, which does honor to the So- 
ciety of the Quakers, and proves their fidelity to the 
principles of peace and unity by which they are dis- 
tinguiohed." After thus disposing of $7350, there 
remained 1600 which coidd not be refunded. This 
amount could not be applied as desired, owing to the 
recurrence of hostilities, and was put on interest until 



16 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

1818. The amount was then deposited in the treas- 
ury of the Invalid Seaman's Society, for the relief of 
non-combatants of the merchant service. 

In confirmation of the above story we quote the 
following- from " Lloyd's Evening Post," of Paris, 
March 9, 1785 : " The principles of peace and quiet- 
ness which characterize the Society of Quakers for- 
bid them from taking any part in wars, ancf do not 
even suffer them to partake of any profit that may 
arise from such a source. One of these peaceable 
peoj)le was inevitably concerned in some privateers 
which his partners would fit out during the late wai', 
notwithstanding all his remonstrances and opposition. 
Having received his share of the profits, he has sent his 
son to this city to endeavor to find out the owners of 
the vessels taken, by the above ' Letters of Marque,' 
and restore to them the part he has received of those 
prizes. For this purpose he has published the names 
of all the vessels taken by the privateers fitted out by 
his father's house, and desires the owners or their 
agents to apply to Dr. Edward Long Fox, Hotel 
d'York, Rue Jacob, Paris." 

Since the year 1861, a large iron company made 
application to the Lukens Iron and Steel Co., of 
Coatsville, Pa., for ten thousand tons of protective 
armor plate for government war vessels. This order 
was positively declined by the president of the com- 
pany. Dr. Charles Huston, a Friend, on the ground of 
his peace principles. Dr. Huston said, " War only 
decides which of the combatants has the sui)erior 
strength, and it is more expensive than arbitration, 
as well as destructive to life and property." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 17 

The work was declined with the full knowledge 
that if accepted it would lead to heavy government 
orders. Later on, an agent of the government called 
on Dr. Huston to get a large amount of work done 
for military purposes. This was the only mill east of 
the Allegheny Mountains where it could be done. 
The agent tried to persuade Dr. Huston to accept it, 
telling him that he should name his own price and 
have continued patronage. The reasons were kindly 
given for not accepting the order, and the Lukens 
Iron and Steel Co. neither roll iron plate nor do other 
work for war purposes. They continue, however, to 
have a good patronage, and during 1893 and 1894, 
while the other mills were having little or no work, 
and many of them were closed, the business of the 
Lukens Iron and Steel Co. went steadily on. 

How much the influence of Friends may have had 
to do in bringing about the favorable showing of the 
United States in the following comparison, we will 
not undertake to say. A leading New York paper 
published the following article, taken from the New 
Orleans " Times-Democrat " : " There is no better 
proof of the essential barbarism of even the most 
civilized nations of the world than is afforded by a 
comparison of the money they expend for the main- 
tenance of physical supremacy as against the expendi- 
ture for mental improvement. Though it be assumed 
that ' brain is better than brawn,' there is no evi- 
dence that statesmen so regard it. The amount per 
capita expended by various goverments for military 
and educational purposes is set down as follows : 



18 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Military. Educational. 

France §4.00 $0.70 

England 3.72 63 

HoUand 3.58 64 

Saxony 2.38 36 

Wiirtemberg 2.38 38 

Bavaria ....... 2.38 40 

Prussia 2.04 50 

Denmark ...... 1.76 94 

Italy 1.52 36 

Belgium 1.38 46 

Austria 1.36 32 

Switzerland ...... 82 84 

United States 39 1.35 " 

The citizens of some of the European countries are 
so burdened with taxation for war purposes that they 
complain of the heavy draft upon their resources, and 
in various ways express their dissatisfaction. 

A recent minute of the Yorkshire Quarterly Meet- 
ing of Friends, held at York, England, January, 1894, 
says: "The meeting is deeply impressed with the 
suffering caused to the nations of Europe by the bur- 
densome weight of military expenditures. The reck- 
less squandering of national resources has already 
brought some European states to bankruptcy, and 
others to' a condition of grave financial embarrass- 
ment. In this country about fifty out of every sev- 
enty-five pounds raised by parliamentary taxation is 
already devoted to war-like expenditui'e, past or pres- 
ent. (Signed) William Harvey, Clerk." 

The following statements taken from an article in 
the " Boston Post," of June 6, 1894, give us some idea 
of the enormous expenditure in European countries 
for war purposes: 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 19 

" To be In a state of preparation for war costs the 
taxpayers of continental Europe $700,000,000 a year. 
This is $60,000,000 more than it cost nine years ago, 
and it takes no account of either the value of the time 
of the men kept under arms, or the incidental cost to 
the states of building or "acquiring railroads, mainly 
for purposes of military defense. The magnitude of 
the latter item is referred to by Dr. Mulhall in an 
article in the " North American Review," in which he 
shows that since 1885 the governments of continental 
Europe have built or purchased more than 16,000 
miles of railway, at an apparent cost of $1,680,000,- 
000. That is to say, that in 1885 the mileage and 
capital cost of state railways in Europe were 37,560 
miles, and $3,755,000,000. They had risen in 1898 
to 58,830 miles and $5,455,000,000. Add to this ex- 
penditure $80,000,000 for state telegraph lines, and 
$1,140,000,000 for armaments, and the enormous 
increase in nine years of $2,900,000,000 in the pub- 
lic debt of the states of continental Europe will be 
accounted for. 

" The armaments, for which large sums have been 
used, cannot be said to be additions to the national 
wealth, but it will be seen that since 1885 they have 
entailed an expenditure, partly raised by taxation and 
partly by borrowing, of $2,660,000,000. Even this 
does not include the amount of the interest charge- 
able to this portion of the public debt, and it provides 
no guarantee that in the next nine years the cost of 
military preparation may not be as much more." 

The Krupp gun which was exhibited at the World's 



20 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Fair at Chicago is 48 feet long, 17 inches bore, and 
weighs 140 tons. The carriage weighs 150 tons. The 
whole cost $195,000. It requires 904 pounds of pow- 
der for one charge. At 33 cents a pound, the cost 
of a charge would be $298.32. The armor-piercing 
shell, weighing 2513 pounds, at 40 cents per pound, 
costs $1005.20. This makes, according to the war 
department estimate, $1303.52 for once firing the 
gun. Sixty firings are its limit, or $78,211.20. Add 
to this the original cost, $195,000, and you have the net 
cost of $273,211.20, for sixty rounds ; or $4553.52 
for each shot, without adding cost of handling or 
equipments. 

It throws a steel-pointed projectile five feet long, 
weighing, as we have seen, over a ton, a distance of 
twenty miles or more ; and at nine miles it has been 
made to pass through a steel armor plate 24 inches 
thick. Besides this projectile, this gun shoots steel 
schrapnels, filled with small bullets, 3000 in each. 
This shell, charged with an explosive substance, bursts 
and the balls are hurled with great velocity in every 
direction, so that besides the destructive power of the 
steel fragments is that of 3000 bullets. Few regi- 
ments contain 1000 effective men, so that in this one 
shell you have the power of destroying a whole bri- 
gade. 

A quick-firing gun of that exhibit fires forty shots 
a minute, using fuse-shell, cast-iron ring shell, steel 
schrapnels, or case shot. There are 180 balls in each 
schrapnel. Forty shots can be fired in a minute, 
which would give 7200 bullets besides the fragments 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 21 

of forty shells, to be sent every minute among human 
beings. To receive such a fire would soon destroy an 
army. 

Since the exhibition at Chicago of those wonderful 
machines for the destruction of human life, showing 
that the inventive genius of man is still at work on 
this line, news has been received from London (Janu- 
ary 6, 1894), that Arch Duke Salvator has perfected 
an automatic mitrailleuse that will fire from 450 to 
460 shots per minute. Smokeless powder can be 
used in all weathers, and thus the presence of an am- 
bushed enemy is not revealed. Forty thousand rounds 
have been fired from the barrel of one of these new 
guns without its showing any defect. 

Those interested in naval warfare have been much 
gratified with experiments made with a recently com- 
pleted dynamite gun, weighing, with its carriage, fifty- 
two tons, throwing a quarter of a ton of dynamite a 
mile and a half with great accuracy, and so con- 
structed that it will explode upon striking the water 
or any other substance. It is operated by electricity, 
and one projectile is said to be sufficient to destroy 
three war ships at once. On one trial it is said to 
have thrown an acre of the Atlantic Ocean into the 
air. 

Another recent invention is claiming the attention 
of war men. One Mr. Turpin has produced an auto- 
matic chariot, firing automatically 25,000 bullets at 
one time. This invention renders the approach of an 
enemy impossible. Liquefied gas may be used in the 
machine. Projectiles are hurled with tremendous 



22 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

force to great distances, and from any height, the ap- 
paratus being such as to afford buoyancy. The in- 
ventor claims that his weapon will be so destructive 
that war will cease for want of soldiers. 

Add to these a machine recently perfected for pour- 
ing burning petroleum from balloons upon cities and 
towns, with such effect as to destroy them by fire, and 
we may well conclude that war will cease because of 
its utter destructiveness. 

The United States has recently had a test made, at 
the Sandy Hook proving station, of four of the big- 
gest projectiles ever made by this government. The 
first shot went through an obstruction of thirteen and 
a half inches of steel armor plate, four feet of solid 
oak plank, and thirty-seven feet of sand. These four 
shots cost the government -$17,000. 

The total cost to the United States Government dur- 
ing the year 1893 on what may be called the war 
power, including pensions, the army, and the navy, 
was upwards of $239,000,000, far more than haK the 
entire expenditures of the government. 

The total number of persons furnished by the dif- 
ferent Northern States to the various calls of Abra- 
ham Lincoln was 2,759,049, Of these, President 
Cleveland's proclamation in 1894 stated that 969,544 
were still on the pension rolls, and the number had 
increased 3552 since the year before. The amount 
paid in pensions during the year 1893, nearly thirty 
years after the close of the war, was 8139,804,401.05. 

If our government does not soon call a halt in her 
military expenditures, such groanings as those of the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 23 

European nations may soon be heard on this side of 
the Atlantic, by the people who now so proudly boast 
of their freedom from conscription and taxation for 
keeping up the war system. 

We must believe that the advanced civilization of 
the nineteenth century will forbid our going to much 
greater lengths in this direction, notwithstanding the 
efforts of military men to introduce army tactics into 
our schools, and of preachers and Bible school teach- 
ers to introduce boys' brigades into our churches and 
Bible schools. 

The engines of death have been brought to such 
wonderful perfection and extensive capabilities that to 
go to war means the utter destruction of one or both 
armies. This is so fidly realized by the military men 
themselves, that they hesitate as never before to de- 
clare war and thus bring into action these machines 
for the slaughter of men by thousands. They, too, 
are coming to realize, from the very certainty of suc- 
cess in the destruction of human life, that to go to war 
is not Christ-like but barbarous. 



CHAPTER II. 

O Spirit of that early day, 
So pure and strong and true, 
Be with us in the narrow way 
Our faithful fathers knew. 
Give strength the evil to forsake. 
The cross of Truth to bear, 
And love and reverent fear to make 
Our daily lives a prayer. 

Whittier. 

In 1656, twelve years after George Fox had begun 
his ministry in England, a number of his followers 
attempted to land in America ; but the New England 
puritans were unwilling that the doctrines of Fox 
should be taught in their midst. They therefore sent 
the Friends back to England by the same ship in 
which they had come. The Friends soon returned, 
however, bringing others with them, this time to stay. 
Notwithstanding severe persecution and the death 
of four of their number, who were hung on Boston 
Common on account of their religion, they made 
many converts. 

Churches were established from New England to 
Georgia. Many of these have ever since been main- 
tained, sometimes with ministers, sometimes without ; 
but whether flourishing or waning, the Friends every- 
where steadily upheld their distinctive views concern- 
ing war. They were the first in America to teach 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 25 

the doctrine of religious liberty and o£ non-resistance. 
They have had no small part in the education of 
public sentiment and in the framing of laws which 
place the United States among the foremost nations 
of the world, respecting, as it does, liberty of con- 
science, the sacredness of human life, and the equal 
rights of all. 

The colony of Rhode Island was settled largely 
by Friends. Roger Williams welcomed them to his 
" Providence Plantation," and the government of the 
colony was, for many years, mostly under their con- 
trol. They kept no standing army and had no mili- 
tary displays. The Indians were treated justly, and, 
having their confidence, the Friends were in no dan- 
ger of massacre as were their military neighbors, 
who constantly suffered loss of life and property on 
account of warlike measures. 

William Penn landed at Newcastle on the Dela- 
ware on the 24th of October, 1682, and proceeded to 
the site where now stands Philadelphia. Here he 
made that famous treaty of peace and justice with 
the Indians, the only treaty, says Voltaire, which 
" was never sworn to and never broken." Pennsyl- 
vania, while under the rule of Friends, from 1682 to 
1754, presents a picture of what has well been called 
" The Golden Age " of that State. 

" During these seventy years," writes Clarkson, the 
abolitionist, " while William Penn's principles pre- 
vailed and the Quakers had the principal share in the 
government, there was no spot on the globe where, 
number for number, there was such virtue or so 



26 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

much happiness as among the people of Pennsyl- 
vania." Taking into account the time and the extent 
of territory, it is without parallel in the history of 
mankind as an example of Christian government. 

" Of all the colonies that every existed," says Pro- 
fessor Ebeling, " none was ever founded on so philan- 
thropic a plan ; none so deej)ly impressed with the 
character of its founder ; none ever practiced in a 
greater degree the principle of toleration, liberty, and 
peace ; and none rose and flourished more rapidly." 

The language on this subject of the eloquent Du- 
ponceau, in his address before the Pennsylvania His- 
torical Society, in 1821, is very striking. He says : 
" Let it not be imagined that the annals of Pennsyl- 
vania are not sufficiently interesting to call forth the 
talents of an eloquent historian. It is true that they 
exhibit none of those striking events which the vul- 
gar mass of humanity considers alone worthy of being 
transmitted to posterity. 

" No ambitious rival warriors occupy the stage, nor 
are strong emotions excited by the frequent descrip- 
tions of blood, murder, and devastation. But what 
country on earth ever presented such a spectacle as 
this fortunate commonwealth held out to view for the 
space of nearly one hundred years, — realizing all 
that fable ever invented or poetry ever sang of an 
imaginary golden age ? Happy country, whose un- 
paralleled innocence already communicates to thy 
history the interest of romance I 

" Should Pennsylvanians hereafter degenerate, they 
will not need, like the Greeks, a fabulous Arcadia to 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 27 

relieve the mind from the prospect of their crimes 
and follies and to doom their own vices by the 
fancied virtues of their forefathers. Pennsylvania 
once realized what never existed before, except in 
fabled story. Not that her citizens were entirely free 
from the passions of human nature, for they were 
men and not angels, but it is certain that no country 
on earth ever exhibited such a scene of happiness, 
innocence, and peace as was witnessed here during 
the first century of her existence." 

Friends were among the earliest settlers of North 
Carolina. The first of whom we have any account 
were Henry Phillips and his family, who settled on 
the banks of Albemarle Sound, about 1665. They 
went from New England, where he and his wife had 
been convinced of the principles of Friends. 

William Edmundson came from England with 
George Fox in the early part of 1672. They landed 
in Maryland, George Fox going to New England 
and William Edmundson to Carolina, which was then 
a wilderness. William Edmundson had much diffi- 
culty in crossing swamps and fording or swimming 
rivers. Often at night he found no shelter except 
such as the forest afforded. 

Upon reaching the home of Henry Phillips he was 
received with tears of rejoicing. They had not seen 
a Friend for seven years, and William Edmundson 
was the first minister of the Gospel who had ever come 
to Carolina. 

Meetings were held at the home of Henry Phillips, 
and many of the inhabitants attended. " These had 



28 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

little or no religion," says the preacher, " for they 
came and sat down in meetings smoking their pipes ; 
yet several of them were tendered and received the 
testimony." 

Tradition in that neighborhood says, " They sat 
looking earnestly at the preacher, their elbows on 
their knees, their faces in their hands, their pipes in 
their months, and their hats on their heads." 

The territory which now constitutes North and 
South Carolina had at that time about three thousand 
European settlers. These were very much scattered, 
there being scarcely a hamlet to be seen in the whole 
province. There were no roads. Paths from house 
to house were marked by "blazed trees." There 
seems to have been no religious sect in the country 
before the coming of William Edmundson. No won- 
der that Henry Phillips and his wife wept at the 
coming of their brother in the Gospel. 

Friends were the first to form a relipious or^ani- 
zation in Carolina, and their numbers rapidly in- 
creased by immigration and convincement. 

The governor of the province became so obnoxious 
to them and to the people in general, on account of 
his attempts to force the constitutionals upon them, 
that they deposed him, and John Archdale, a Friend, 
was aj)pointed in his place. 

So much power was given to Governor Archdale 
that it was deemed best to make a record that no such 
authority should be claimed by any of his successors. 
He was deeply interested in the welfare of the people, 
including the Indians. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 29 

January 25, 1688, he wrote to George Fox, " We, 
at present, have peace with all the nations of the In- 
dians. The Tuscarora King seems to be a very wise 
man, as to natural parts. Some of the Indians living 
near me are so civilized as to come into English hab- 
its and have cattle of their own. I look upon this 
outward civilization as a good preparation for the 
Gospel, which God, in His season, without doubt will 
cause to dawn upon them." 

The rule of Governor Archdale, like that of Wil- 
liam Penn, was solely for the good of his people, and 
under it they prospered. The rights ^^f the Indians 
were considered, and the Gospel was preached to 
them. There were no wars or massacres in Carolina, 
as in the settlements of Jamestown, Va., and some 
other parts of this country. 

To this day the name of John Archdale is held in 
loving remembrance by the descendants of the people 
whom he so wisely governed, and one of the prettiest 
villages in the " Old North State " is named " Arch- 
dale " in memory of him. No liquor saloon is allowed 
to exist in the town, and the people live in peace and 
prosperity under the care of their Quaker mayor. 

A spirit of discernment and prophecy seems to 
have characterized the ministry of many preachers 
among Friends, and Mahlon Hockett was noted for 
speaking to that which was in the minds of others, 
and telling them of their misdeeds. On one occasion 
two ungodly men were discussing the manner in 
which they should spend the Sabbath morning, when 
one of them said, " Let 's go and hear what old Mah- 



30 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Ion has to say to-day." Accordingiy they went to 
Springfiekl meeting. Soon after they entered, Mah- 
lon, fastening his eyes upon them, arose and said, 
" AA^ell, let 's go and hear what okl Mahlon has to say 
to-day." He thus gained their attention, and pro- 
ceeded to preach a sermon which was blessed to the 
good of their souls. 

On another occasion a woman entered, while he was 
preaching. He stopped a moment, looked at her, and 
remarked, " Go and carry home that filling, and thou 
shalt have peace of mind." He then proceeded with 
his subject. The woman took home the filling, which 
she had stolen from a neighbor for whom she had been 
weaving, confessed her sin, and became a changed 
character. 

Two of the most remarkable prophecies concerning 
the civil war in this country were made by Joseph 
Hoag. He was born of Presbyterian parents, in New 
York, in 1762. He became a Friend and minister, 
and settled at Monkton, Vt. In 1820 he was trav- 
eling with a companion, on horseback, visiting the 
meetings of Friends in Pennsylvania. As they were 
riding he suddenly stopped his horse ; looking around 
him and then down to the ground, he said to his 
friend, " My horse's feet are wading in blood, even to 
the fetlocks." Upon this very ground, forty-three 
years later, was fought the terrible battle of Gettys- 
burg, July 1, 2, and 3, 1863. 

Joseph Hoag's wonderful vision concerning the civil 
war and the abolition of slavery was widely published 
long before the war, but it should have a place here. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 31 

VISION OF JOSEPH HOAG. 

" In the year 1803, probably the eighth or ninth 
month, I was alone in the fields and observed that the 
sun shone clear, but that a mist eclipsed the bright- 
ness of its shining. As I reflected upon the singu- 
larity of the event, my mind was drawn into silence 
the most solemn I ever remember to have witnessed, 
for it seemed as if all my faculties were laid low and 
unusually brought into deep solemnity. I said to my- 
self, ' What can all this mean ? I do not recollect 
ever before to have been sensible of such feelings,' 
and I heard a voice from Heaven say, ' This that 
thou seest which dims the brightness of the sim, is a 
sign of the present and coming times. I took the 
forefathers of this country from a land of oppression ; 
I planted them here among the people of the forest ; 
I sustained them ; and while they were humble I 
blessed and fed them, and they became a numerous 
people ; but they have now become proud and lifted 
up, and have forgotten Me who nourished and pro- 
tected them in the wilderness, and are running into 
every abomination and evil practice of which the old 
countries are guilty ; I have taken quietude from the 
land, and suffered a dividing sjsirit to come among 
them. Lift up thine eyes and behold.' 

" And I saw them dividing in great heat. This 
division began in the church upon points of doctrine. 
It commenced in the Presbyterian Society and went 
through the various denominations, and in its progress 
and close its effect was nearly the same. Those who 



32 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

dissented went off with hiffli heads and tauntinof 
language, and those who kept to the oi'iginal senti- 
ment appeared exercised and sorrowful. And when 
this dividing spirit entered the Society of Friends it 
raged in as high a degree as any I had before discov- 
ered ; and as before, those who separated went away 
with lofty looks and taimting, censuring language, 
while those who kept to the ancient principles retired 
by themselves. 

" It next api^eared in the lodges of Free Masons, 
and it broke out like a volcano, insomuch that it set 
the country in an uj^roar for a length of time. Then 
it entered politics throughout the United States, and 
it did not stop until it produced civil war, and an 
abundance of human blood was shed in the combat. 
The Southern States lost their power, and slavery was 
annihilated from their borders. 

" Then a monarchical power arose, took the govern- 
ment of the States, established a national religion, 
and made all societies tributary to its support. I saw 
them take property from Friends to large account. I 
was amazed at all this, and heard a voice proclaim, 
'This power shall not always stand, but with this 
power I will chasten My church until they return to 
the f aithf idness of their forefathers. Thou seest wliat 
is coming on thy native land for their iniquity and the 
blood of Africa, the remembrance of which has come 
up before Me. This vision is yet for many days.' 

" I had no idea of writing it down, for many years, 
until it became such a burden that for my own re- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 33 

lief I have written it. — Joseph Hoag, Monkton, Vt., 
1843." 

The clause relative to the monarchical form of gov- 
ernment is thought by many not to be a part of the 
vision as first related by him. His son, Lindley M. 
Hoag, an eminent minister, told the writer that his 
father believed that the present form of government 
would not endure, and having failed to write the 
vision until many years had passed by, he may have 
confused in his mind the opinion with the vision. His 
eldest son, Joseph D. Hoag, also gave this testimony. 
William Dean, an aged Friend and former neighbor 
of Joseph Hoag, who also heard him relate the vision, 
has confirmed this statement, as have also many 
others ; so it seems but just to give this explanation in 
connection with this part of the vision. 

This was indeed a remarkable prophecy, and there 
is no other way to account for it but to acknowledge, 
as the venerable minister expressed it, that he " heard 
a voice from Heaven." 

Joseph Hoag died long before the war of 1861, but 
he fully believed that it was coming, and most mi- 
nutely has the vision been fulfilled. Divisions have 
occurred in the churches, and in the order he pre- 
dicted. The Free Masons have partaken of a divid- 
ing spirit, which did, indeed, enter into politics and 
much human blood was shed. Slavery was abolished 
and property in large amounts was taken from 
Friends. 

Truly we have been chastened for the blood of 



34 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Africa and for the iniquity of slavery, which began in 
America by the purchase of twenty negroes from a 
Dutch trading ship, by the English settlers at James- 
town, Virginia, in 1G20 ; and which was legally ended 
January 1, 18G3, by the Emancipation Proclamation 
of Abraham Lincoln. 

An amusing as well as interesting story, which has 
a bearing upon our subject, is told of a minister 
among Friends of more recent date. 

Owing to his popularity and activity in the temper- 
ance work, Eli Jones was elected by a large majority 
to the State Legislature of Maine, in 1854. The 
election was very unexpected to him, as he had not 
sought the place ; but having been chosen largely on 
account of his temperance principles, he said he 
would see what he could do " to help put new teeth 
into the old law," and much credit is due to him for 
the existence of the " Maine Liquor Law." 

When the time came to be sworn in as a member of 
the House, Eli Jones alone kept his seat while the 
others swore to do their duty. Then he arose and 
"affirmed" to the governor that he would faithfidly 
perform the duties of his office. 

Although he worked on important committees and 
was diligent in other duties of his office, he never ad- 
dressed the House. Some of the members who knew 
his ability arranged a plan to call forth a speech from 
him. In the course of the session it became necessary 
to appoint a ]Major-General to the second division of 
the Maine militia. In 1838, Maine had undertaken 
by for('e of arms to assert her right to a region near 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 35 

her northern boundary, claimed by both her and Can- 
ada. There was much mustering of troops at the 
capital, and fully ten thousand soldiers marched 
through the deep snow and fierce cold to drive the 
enemy from Aroostook County. Though they were 
brave and ready for battle, happily no blood was shed, 
and peace was wisely made. But the " Aroostook 
War " became famous as a subject of banter, and 
many jokes were made at the expense of the officers. 
The old nursery rhyme was quoted : 

" The King of France, with twice ten thousand men, 
Marched up the hill, and then — marched down again." 

Primarily for these two reasons, — to urge Eli 
Jones to his feet, and to joke the former officers by 
appointing a Quaker, an avowed peace advocate, — he 
was unanimously chosen to fill the vacancy of Major- 
General. 

The nomination was so entirely unexpected by Eli 
Jones that he was at first perplexed by the situation. 
He saw that much was at stake, and that wisdom and 
caution were needed. Having his horse at Augusta, 
he drove that night to his home at Dirigo, fifteen 
miles away, chiefly, perhaps, to discuss the situation 
with his beloved Sibyl and the Friends most suitable 
for counsel. After talking far into the night with his 
brother-in-law, James Van Blarcom, he walked the 
floor alone until the new day was dawning. 

Upon reaching Augusta again, he found the occa- 
sion far more important than he had anticipated. 
The news had spread that the Quaker was to speak in 
regard to his appointment, and the Hall of the Repre- 



36 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

sentatives was crowded. Not only were most of the 
members of the Senate present, but many other citi- 
zens. The subject of the appointment was introduced, 
and Eli Jones sj^oke in substance as follows : 

" Whatever my ambitions may have been in times 
past, my aspirations have never embraced such an 
office as this as an object of desire. I can assure the 
House that my election as Major-General was an 
honor wholly unexpected. It is true that when the 
governor announced to the House the existence of the 
vacancy, a member privately remarked to me, ' I shall 
vote for you ; ' but I replied, declining the honor, and 
proposed to return the compliment. 

" To my mind there is something ominous in this 
occurrence. I regard it as one of the develojjments 
of the times. AVho of us, when assembled ten years 
ago, in quiet and retired places, to affix our signa- 
tures to pledges of abstinence from intoxicating 
drinks, would have believed that in 1855 we should 
be elected to the seats we now occupy, amid the over- 
whelming rejoicings of the people, and pledged to the 
suj)port of the Maine Law? Who that at that time 
had visited the plantations of the South and seen the 
slave toiling under the lash of the taskmaster, would 
have believed that in 1855 the people of the larger 
portion of this great land would have roused with 
stern determination to subdue the encroachments of 
the slave power, and have pledged themselves never 
to cease their labors until the wrongs of slavery should 
be ameliorated, — nay, more^ until slavery itself should 
be abolished ? 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 37 

" Still more wonderful ! Who would have believed 
that the State of Maine, which a few years since glo- 
ried in an Aroostook expedition, and was noisy with 
military training and the noise of arms, would, in 
1855, exhibit the spectacle of a peaceable member of 
the Society of Friends being elected to the post of 
Major-General of a division of the militia, and that, 
too, by the representatives in their legislative capa- 
city? 

" But I have endeavored to regulate my own con- 
duct by the principle that legislation should not go 
very far in advance of public sentiment, and it seems 
to me that this election may possibly be ahead of that 
sentiment. I therefore submit this suggestion in all 
candor. 

" It is generally understood that I entertain peculiar 
views in respect to the policy of war. If, however, I 
am an exponent of the views of the Legislature on 
that subject, I will cheerfully undertake to serve the 
State in the capacity indicated. With much pleasure 
I shall stand before the militia of the second division 
and give such orders as I think best. The first would 
be, ' Ground arms.' The second would be, ' Right 
about face ; beat your swords into plowshares and 
your spears into pruning-hooks, and learn war no 
more.' I should then dismiss every man to his farm 
and to his merchandise, with an admonition to read 
daily at his fireside the New Testament, and ponder 
upon its tidings of ' Peace on earth, good will toward 
men.' 

" If, on the other hand, it should be determined 



38 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

that my election is a little in advance of the times, I 
am willing, as a ^ood citizen, to bow to the majesty of 
the law, and, as a member of the Legislature, to con- 
sult its dignity and decline the exalted position ten- 
dered me by the House, — and I will now decline it. 
With pleasure I now surrender to the House this 
trust and the honor, and retire to private life." 

This speech was delivered amid interruptions of 
loud applause, and made a great sensation throughout 
the State ; and not in Maine only, but it was com- 
mented on by many of the newspapers, and appeared 
in the columns of English journals. 

Pictures of the fighting Quaker were made, with 
the' orders to his troops printed below. It even came 
put in an African journal, so that what seemed an un- 
important jileasantry on the part of the members of 
the Legislature of Maine, gave Eli Jones an opportu- 
nity to preach peace to a very extended audience, and 
to make his voice heard far beyond the little State 
capital. From this time, Eli Jones was regarded 
with much respect by all the members, and he received 
encouragement and support in whatever he desired 
to accomplish. 

At the close of the legislative session he called upon 
the governor to thank him for his kindness and his 
help in different ways. He remarked to the governor 
that he had been in rather a peculiar place during the 
winter, and had felt somewhat like a " speckled bird."' 
The governor said to him, " Mr. Jones, what you call 
being a ' speckled bird ' has given you more influence 
than anything else could possibly have done." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 39 

Whatever he may have accomplished in other lines 
during his term of office, Eli Jones gave a clear testi- 
mony concerning the Christian teaching respecting 
peace, temperance, and oaths, and returned to his 
home m China, Maine, thoroughly resj^ected by all 
with whom he had been associated. 



CHAPTER III. 

Up now, for freedom ; not in strife 
Like that your sterner fathers saw, — 
The awful waste of human life, 
The glory and the guilt of war ; 

But break the chain, the yoke remove. 
And smite to earth oppression's rod 
With those mild arms of Truth and Love 
Made mighty through the living God. 

Whittiee. 

There is undoubted proof that, while recognizing 
the right of States to enact their own laws, our fore- 
fathers, in the founding of this government, fully- 
expected that slavery would be abolished by all her 
citizens. That the framers of the Declaration of In- 
dependence so intended, is clear from its own state- 
ments. 

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and many 
others of the founders of this Union, expressed them- 
selves clearly upon this subject ; and George Wash- 
ington, in a letter to John F. Mercer, September 9, 
1786, said: "I never mean, unless some particular cir- 
cumstance should compel me to it, to possess another 
slave by purchase, — it being among my first wishes 
to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this 
country may be abolished by law." Again, he says, 
in a letter to Sir John Sinclair : " There are, in Penn- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 41 

sylvania, laws for the gradual abolition of slavery, 
which neither Virginia nor Maryland have at present; 
but nothing is more certain than that they must have 
them, and at a period not remote." In a letter to 
Charles Pinckney, at that time governor of South Car- 
olina, he writes, March 17, 1792 : " I must say that I 
lament the decision of your Legislature upon the sub- 
ject of importing slaves after March, 1793. I was in 
hopes that motives of policy as well as other good rea- 
sons, supported by the direful effects of slavery which 
at this moment are presented, would have operated to 
produce a total prohibition of the importation of 
slaves, wherever the question came to be agitated, in 
any State that might be interested in the measure." 

By will, General Washington freed all his slaves 
except the dower negroes. His wife, on learning of 
her husband's will, immediately gave up her dower, 
and the slaves were all at once liberated. 

Thomas Jefferson freed all his slaves by will, and 
says : " The whole commerce between master and 
slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous 
passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one 
part and degrading submission on the other. Our 
children see this and learn to imitate it. The parent 
storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments of 
wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle of smaller 
slaves, gives a loose rein to the worst passions, and 
thus nursed, educated, and daily exercised in tyranny, 
cannot but be stamped by it with odious peculiarities. 
The man must be a prodigy who can retain his mor- 
als and manners undepraved by such circumstances. 



42 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

With the morals of the people their industry is also 
destroyed ; for in a warm climate no man will labor 
for himself who can make another labor for him. 
This is so true that, of the proprietors of slaves, only 
a very small proportion, indeed, are ever seen to labor. 
And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure 
when we have removed their only firm basis, — a con- 
viction in the minds of the people that their liberties 
are the gift of God, and that they are not to be vio- 
lated except by His wrath ? 

" Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect 
that God is just ; that His justice cannot sleep for- 
ever ; that, considering numbers, nature, and natural 
means only, a revolution in the wheel of fortune or 
exchange of the situation is among possible events ; 
that it may become probable by a supernatural inter- 
ference. The Almighty has no attribute which can 
take sides with us in such a contest." 

Again he says : 

" We must wait with patience the workings of an 
overruling Providence, and hope that this is jjreparing 
the deliverance of these our brethren. When the 
measure of their tears shall be full, when their groans 
shall have involved Heaven itself in darkness, doubt- 
less a God of justice will awaken to their distress. 
Nothing is more certainly written in the book of Fate 
than that this people shall be free." 

The eloquent Patrick Henry said, in 1773: "It 
would rejoice my very soul that every one of my 
fellow beings was emancipated. We ought to lament 
and deplore the necessity of holding our fellow men 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 43 

in bondage. Believe me, I shall honor the Quakers 
for their noble efforts to abolish slavery." 

Many more quotations from these and others of the 
fathers of our country could be given, showing that 
they hoped for and expected the freedom of all slaves 
within the United States. We will add only one 
more, and this from one of the fathers of the Con- 
stitution. 

James Madison, in the convention that drafted the 
Constitution, said that he thought it " wrong to admit 
into the Constitution the idea that there could be 
property in man." He also stated that where slavery 
existed, the republican theory became still more falla- 
cious. " We have seen the mere distinction of color 
made, in the more enlightened period of time, a 
♦ ground for the most oppressive dominion ever exer- 
cised by man over man." 

The Southern States failed to meet the expectation 
of their wisest statesmen, and reaped the bitter fruit 
of their sowing. A few comparisons of the statistical 
tables will show that slavery was not a profitable 
institution. 

Virginia contained a fifth of the population of the 
whole country at the close of the last century. Ac- 
cording to the first census, taken in 1790, New York 
had 340,920 inhabitants; Virginia had 748,308, or 
more than twice the population of New York State. 
Sixty years afterwards, in 1850, New York had a 
population of 3,097,394 ; and Virginia, only 1,421,661, 
— less than half as many as New York. 

Althouo'h Massachusetts had less than one sixth 



44 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

the area of North Carolina, in comj)aring their statis- 
tics we find that Massachusetts had a decided advan- 
tage. And so we might go on with the fifteen slave 
States, showing by comparison with free States that 
the jDCople who depended upon their own industries 
were the most prosperous in every direction. 

The goods of foreign manufacture purchased by 
Philadelphia used to come largely from Charleston 
merchants, who were large importers ; and the Quaker 
dames of that now famous city watched for the fresh 
importation of their fine silks, etc., by the merchants 
of their Southei'n neighbor. Charleston is now so 
far outstripped in the race, as to have been almost 
unknown, for decades past, as a source of supply for 
imported goods. 

When the Southern States started in the race 
with their Northern sisters, the advantages were al- 
most wholly in their favor, — climate, water-power, 
and mineral resources. Slavery has undoubtedly been 
the cause of their falling so far behind in the race for 
supremacy, in merchandise, in arts, in mechanics, in 
manufactures, in shipping, in mining, and in agricul- 
ture itself, which they finally boasted of as their spe- 
cialty, claiming cotton as king. But as a fact, accord- 
ing to the reports on agriculture for the year 1850, the 
hay crop of the Northern States by itself exceeded in 
value by three and a half million dollars the value 
of all the cotton, tobacco, rice, hay, hemp, and cane 
sugar produced by the fifteen slave States combined. 

A small proportion only of the citizens of the South 
were really slave-owners. In 1850, 347,525 are re- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 45 

ported as nominal slaveholders, though this number 
includes those who hired slaves. Those o\vning them 
in more than one county were counted according to 
the number of counties in which they owned them. 
By carefully considered statistics it is estimated that 
in the fifteen slave States, having an entire popula- 
tion of 9,612,979, less than 200,000 were slave-own- 
ers ; yet at this time they held 3,200,364 slaves. The 
free negroes were not considered citizens nor allowed 
to vote. There were 228,136 of them in the slave 
States, — more in number than the slaveholders. 

The slaveholders gave a great deal of attention to 
politics, and it is evident that the South was wholly 
under their control, and to a great extent the United 
States was governed by them. Laws were made in 
the special interest of this class, and no citizen not 
in accord with this system could hold an office within 
the gift of the Southern people. By far the majority 
of the prominent offices in the United States were 
given to Southern men. From the time of Washing- 
ton's election until that of Abraham Lincoln, in 
1861, seventy-two years, eighteen presidential elec- 
tions took place. Of the candidates chosen, twelve 
were Southern slaveholders. No Northern man had 
ever been reelected to the presidency, but five South- 
ern men had been. Southern men occupied the presi- 
dential chair forty-eight and a quarter of the seventy- 
two years, or more than two thirds of the time. 

Upon examination of the records, we find that much 
the larger proportion of the United States offices have 
been held by Southern men, and thus legislation, not 



46 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

only in the Southern States, but also in the North, 
was made largely in the interest of this very small 
minority of her citizens. 

Such was the effect upon the interests of the labor- 
ing white man in the South that he could obtain as a 
farm laborer only about seven or eight dollars per 
month and food, while the slave hired out by his 
master and for his master's benefit would be allowed 
ten dollars or more, with food, lodging, clothing, and 
medical attendance. In 1856 the North Carolina 
Railroad Company paid white men twelve dollars a 
month, while the slave-owners received for slave labor 
sixteen dollars for every slave so employed, regardless 
of efficiency. Tidy, industrious white girls had diffi- 
culty in securing positions in private families at forty 
dollars a year, board and lodging included, while 
negro slave girls of corresponding ages but in every 
way inferior were in brisk demand at sixty-five or 
seventy dollars, including food, clothes, and medical 
attendance. 

As a result of all this even the negroes had come to 
look down upon the poor whites, and the self-respect 
of the latter was reduced to a low state. By the time 
the war began, many of the poor white people had so 
far lost their ambition as to look for or exj^ect little 
more than an animal existence. 

The free school, connnon in the Northern States, 
had little place in the South at this time. The slave 
holders had no interest in the education of the free 
colored people or of the poor whites. A very large 
proportion of the popidation could neither read nor 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 47 

write, and many of the poor white people possessed 
but little money from one year's end to another. 

So jealously was the system of slavery guarded that 
it became dangerous to have anything to say against 
it. For selling Hinton Rowen Helper's " Impending 
Crisis," a book written by a North Carolinian, show- 
ing from a financial standpoint the evil effects of 
slavery, Jesse Whalon of Guilford County, N. C, 
was banished, and Daniel Worth was imprisoned in 
Greensboro, N. C. A company of men took him 
from the jail and after getting out of the town it was 
proposed to hang him. To this proposal all were 
agreed except one John A. Gilmore, who, by his posi- 
tive opposition and determination to save the life of 
the preacher, prevailed upon them to desist. An 
aged worthy citizen, remembering the facts, told the 
writer that with one exception all of these men had 
come to a violent death, and he was an outcast from 
society and the writer knows not his end. John Gil- 
more became an honorable Christian citizen, and died 
respected by all who knew him and honored by his 
country. 

The evil effects of slavery became more and more 
apparent to the American people as time advanced. 
The corruptions and demoralizing effects upon white 
as well as black grew with the practice. The hard- 
ened condition and cruelty of many of the Southern- 
ers, as manifested during the war, was the result of 
havino; become accustomed to acts of "man's inhuman- 
ity to man," in the treatment of the African negro. 

"With a few exceptions the slaves were forbidden to 



48 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

read, and many preachers tauglit that they had no 
soul. In sjiite of these facts the negroes acquired 
some knowledge of the Scripture. Of this they made 
good use, and there was much genuine piety among 
them. The Lord condescended in marked manner to 
teach them by His Holy Spirit. They believed that 
He " talked with them by the way " and helj)ed them 
to bear their heavy burdens. 

The more determined the Southern peoj)le became 
to extend the limits of the slave territory and shape 
the laws of the government to protect this Southern 
interest, the more rapidly grew the feeling of opj)osi- 
tion and the more universal became the opinion that 
slavery was a national sin and ought not to be toler- 
ated. 

* In 1851 the laws were so framed in the interest of 
the slaveholders that anywhere in the United States 
to harbor a fugitive slave, receive him into one's 
house, feed him, or in any way aid him, was to subject 
one's self to a heavy fine and imprisonment. No 
wonder that Thomas Jefferson said, when speaking 
of slavery, " I tremble for my country when I reflect 
that God is just." John Wesley, who had lived in 
Georgia, called it " the sum of all villainies." 

Soon after the beginning of the war. Col. U. L. 
Utely, of the United States Army, while encamped 
with his regiment in Kentucky, was visited by Judge 
Robertson of the United States Court, who demanded 
of him a negro boy who had taken refuge within the 
camp. Colonel Utely promptly refused to surrender 
him, although ordered by his superior officer to do so. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 49 

He denied the jurisdiction of liis superior in this case, 
and told the judge to go and get his boy if he could, 
but that he would not arrest or deliver him. 

The Colonel was sued in the United States Court 
in Kentucky ; judgment was obtained against him for 
$1500 and costs, which judgment was transferred 
from the court in Kentucky to the United States 
Court in Wisconsin. Colonel Utely's home and 
property were in Wisconsin, and a lieu was created 
thereupon while he was serving the United States as 
a colonel in her army. Eventually, by special act of 
Congress, $1000 was appropriated to partially pay 
this Southern slaveholder for a boy of color, worth 
in the slave market not more than $500, for he had 
been so abused and overworked that he was but a 
dwarf. Colonel Utely paid the balance, about $700, 
to be free from the judgment. 

Such unrighteous laws many recognized as con- 
flicting with the laws of God. 

Long before the war, men and women whose hearts 
were touched and their interest aroused as they 
learned of the ill-treatment of this opjjressed people 
began to agitate the question of liberty for the slaves. 
As early as 1816, Charles Osborne, a Friend, pub- 
lished the " Philanthropist," at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio. 
This was the first anti-slavery paper printed in 
America. From this office went Osborne's son and 
a journeyman printer named Benjamin Lundy, also a 
Friend, to East Tennessee, where they published the 
" Genius of Universal Emancipation." It was after- 
wards published by him in Baltimore. 



50 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The Greensboro " Patriot," started by William 
Swain in 1821, and still issued at Greensboro, N. C, 
advocated the gradual emancipation of the slave. He 
was greeted with a storm of abuse, but he boldly pub- 
lished his sentiments, and often gave the threatening 
letters which he received a conspicuous place in the 
" Patriot." 

The first society ever formed to work for the grad- 
ual abolition of slavery, was organized in New York, 
January, 1785, with John Jay as its president. The 
next was in Pennsylvania, in 1787, with Franklin as 
its president. They gradually midtiplied, and held 
conventions. In 1827 one was held in Baltimore, 
where ten different States were represented. North 
, Carolina was represented by forty branch societies. 
The convention petitioned Congress for the abolition 
of slavery in the District of Columbia, and encouraged 
the education of the people of color. 

The first real anti-slavery society in the United 
States was formed in Indiana, in 1833. Arnold Buf- 
fum and other Friends were among the twelve organ- 
izers. But seventeen yeai's previous to this, early in 
the year 1816, a society was formed in North Caro- 
lina for the gradual manumission of the slaves. Its 
first meeting was held at Centre, a Friends' commu- 
nity, ten miles from Greensboro. Several well known 
slaveholders belonged to it. Meetings were held at 
New Garden, Guilford County, and other neighbor- 
hoods of Friends, where they could not have been held 
a few years later. One was held in Randolph County, 
at the home of General Gray, who was a large slave- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 51 

holder. The minutes o£ the first society have lately 
been discovered, and are now at Guilford College, 
N. C. 

At a meeting held in General Gray's barn, Ran- 
dolph County, N. C, the question of changing the 
name of the society from " Emancipation " to " Man- 
umission and Colonization Society " v^^as discussed and 
voted upon. The more pronounced abolitionists dis- 
covered that this change was intended, not only to 
send the manimiitted slaves to Liberia, but to make 
that a condition of their freedom, and also to banish 
all free colored people from their midst, as they " were 
considered a dangerous class in a slaveholding dis- 
trict." The Friends and many others strongly op- 
posed this. While they had no objection to allowing 
the freed people to go to Africa if they chose, they 
were not willing to compel them to do so. The oppo- 
nents of the change were, however, outvoted by a 
small majority, and they withdrew from the society. 
The Friends reorganized at New Garden, where they 
continued to hold meetings until most of them re- 
moved to non-slaveholding States. 

In 1816, the Legislature of Virginia passed a reso- 
lution requesting the governor to correspond with the 
President of the United States " for the purpose of 
obtaining a territory on the coast of Africa or at some 
other place not within the United States or territorial 
government of the United States, to serve as an asy- 
lum for such persons of color as are now free and may 
desire the same, and for those who may hereafter be 
emancipated within the commonwealth." 



52 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

"Within a few days there was held at Washin^^on, 
D. C, a meeting of Southern men to take this subject 
into considei-ation. The " American Colonization So- 
ciety " was organized, with Judge Washington as its 
president. There were seventeen vice-presidents, only 
five of whom were from free States ; and a board of 
managers, every one of whom was a slaveholder. 

The only articles of the constitution relating to its 
object are I. and II. The first says : " This society 
shall be called the American Society for Colonizing 
the Free People of Color of the United States." Ar- 
ticle II. : " The object to which its attention is to be 
exclusively directed is to promote and execute a plan 
for the colonizing, with their consent, the free people 
. of color residing in our country, in Africa or such 
other place as Congress shaU deem most expedient ; 
and the Society shall act to effect this object in coop- 
eration witli the general government and such of the 
States as may adopt regulations on this subject." 

"VVe will take note that it was earlier in this same 
year (181G) that our Friends in North Carolina who 
were interested in the manumission of slaves refused 
to become incorporated with the " Manumission and 
Colonization Society," because they discovered that 
the intent was really to banish the free colored people 
from the slaveholding States. 

The organization grew rapidly in favor with the 
slaveholders, but they did not see fit to free any of 
their slaves. In fact, there were but few, if any, freed 
by the leaders of the society. The i)resident of the 
society did sell, to be taken to the New Orleans mar- 
ket, fifty-four of his slaves at one time. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 53 

The hold which the society secured upon the confi- 
dence of the people, North and South, is a remarkable 
example of the willingness of mankind to believe what 
people tell them. Never, perhaps, has any voluntary 
society received in an equal degree the applause and 
patronage of both church and state. Men of all par- 
ties, all religions, and of no religion, officers of the 
government, without regard to politics, — all united 
in this so-called " religious movement." Nor were its 
advocates confined to the United States. Churchmen 
and philanthopists of Europe joined with those of 
America in aiding 200,000 slaveholders to remove 
from their midst the free colored people, whom they 
considered a dangerous class of citizens. 

There was undoubtedly a deep-rooted conviction in 
the minds of the people that slavery is a sin, and any 
measure which gave ever so remote a promise of free- 
dom from the system was gladly received by all, if it 
did not arouse the opposition of the slaveholders 
or conflict with their will. This scheme of the 
American Colonization Society was acceptable to our 
Southern slaveholders, and gave promise of remov- 
ing the blacks, who were so troublesome an element 
in America. 

Few stopped to think of the magnitude of the un- 
dertaking. First, the free colored people, numbering 
nearly 320,000, must be made to consent to go ; then 
about 2,500,000 slaves must be freed " by the consent 
of their masters," and their consent must be obtained 
to be transported to Liberia. We must also take into 
account the rapid natural increase of these millions. 



54 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

and the immense number smuggled into this country 
every year. According to a Mr. Middleton, on the 
floor of Congress, in 1819, there were 13,000 Africans 
smuf^gled into the United States annually ; and a Vir- 
ginia gentleman, a Mr. Wright, estimated the number 
at 15,000. 

Our people had faith in the Colonization Society, 
and whatever it proposed to do, the people in general 
thought was to be accomplished at some time. To be 
sure, they were not promised that all this should be 
done at once ; the society even admitted that it would 
probably be a generation, and it might be a century, 
before America would be free. 

In the " African Repository," the official organ of 
the society, a Mr. Fitzhughes, a vice-president, states as 
follows : " We have never supposed that the society's 
plan could be accomplished in a few years ; on the 
contrary, we have boasted that it will demand a cen- 
tur}^ for its fulfillment." Yet the contributions of a 
confiding people were continued to this " missionary 
society," which reported a great work going on in Af- 
rica, in the civilizing and christianizing of that dark 
continent by these American-Africans, who in their 
o\\ii land were considered "a dangerous element," and 
not allowed to read the Bible ; and where it was a 
crime for any one to furnish them with the Word, 
"the entrance of which giveth light," punishable in 
North Carolina by thirty-nine laslies, if the person 
was colored, and a fine of $!200 if he was white. In 
Georgia, if a white person taught a free negro or slave 
to read or write, the crime was punishable by a fine 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 55 

of $500 and imprisonment, at the discretion of the 
court. This law was enacted in 1829, during the 
palmy days of the " missionary society." Any meet- 
ing of the colored people, free or slave, was forbidden 
by law ; yet it was claimed that they were doing a 
great work in Africa toward christianizing the peo- 
ple and abolishing the slave trade ! 

In an issue of the "African Repository," July, 1830, 
we find the following : " In fact, the Colonization So- 
ciety proposes the only means by which this accursed 
trade can ever be stopped ; and indeed this colony of 
Liberia, which this society has planted, has already 
freed about 250 miles of the coast from the ravages of 
these enemies of the human race." 

Under date of September 10, 1830, a letter from 
A. D. Willcome, their agent, states : " I hope the 
board will adopt some more effectual measure for 
suppressing the slave trade within the territory of Li- 
beria. Since the death of Don Miguel of Bassa, Peter 
Blanco, a Spanish slave-trader, for some years a resi- 
dent in the Gallinas, has opened a slave-factoi-y at 
Grand Cape Mount. Such a thing ought not to be, 
as it is only forty-five miles from here. I am sorry to 
remark that this abominable traffic is being carried 
on with the utmost activity all along the coast. Cap- 
tain Parker, during his trading at the Gallinas of 
about three weeks, saw no less than nine hundred 
shipped." 

In 1832, the British Parliament published the fol- 
lowing facts : Chief Justice Jeffcott of Sierra Leone, 
in 1830, delivered a charge to the grand jury, in 



56 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

wliic'li he deelared that he had received creditable in- 
fomuitiou that persons in the colony were engaged in 
aiding and abetting the slave-trade. He asserted that 
the colony, established for the express jiiirpose of sup- 
pressing this vile traffic, was made the means for car- 
rying it on. He also asserted that 22,000 Africans 
had been located within that colony within ten years, 
but now there could not be found more than 17,000 or 
18,000 there. 

The British government appointed a commission to 
inquire into the truth of the statement, and it rej)orted 
on the 26th of October of the same year that they 
" could but conclude that the nefarious system of kid- 
napping had prevailed in the colony to a much greater 
extent than was even alluded to in the charge of the 
chief justice. The records of the colony show that 
eight, ten, or fifteen vessels have at the same time en- 
gaged in the odious traffic, almost within reach of the 
guns of Liberia ; and as late as 1825 there were exist- 
ing contracts for 8000 slaves, to be furnished within 
four months, within eight miles of Moravia." 

In the English " Monthly Review " for May, 1833, 
we find stated : " One of the schoolmasters in Sierra 
Leone has been tried for selling some of his scholars. 
There were lately upwards of one hundred liberated 
Africans who were kidnapped from Sierra Leone and 
conveyed to a place near the banks of the river Pan- 
gos. Here they were detained until an opportunity 
occurred for reshipping them as slaves." 

We quote the following from a letter from Rev. J. 
B. Pinucy, March 7, 1834 : " Let them, the friends of 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 57 

the society in America, know that to extol knowledge 
and promote sound piety, a quire of paper is at pres- 
ent worth more than a Bible. Bibles and tracts have 
been sent here, and either used for waste paper or 
made food for worms. Why ? Not because the peo- 
ple despise either, but because we have not a reading 
population." 

Nine years before this, in 1825, the society states 
in its eighth official report : " The colony is already to 
the African tribes like a city set upon a hill, which 
cannot be hid. A thousand barbarians who have long 
made merchandise of their brethren and been regarded 
themselves as the objects of a bloody and accursed 
traffic, come within its gates and are taught the doc- 
trines of immortality, — the religion of the Son of 
God." 

These statements were made to American citizens, 
doubtless for the purpose of keeping up the " mission- 
ary work " and deceiving many honest people, when in 
fact they had then sent but 242 of their "mission- 
aries," wretched as they were, to take care of the 
" thousand barbarians." But such was the effect of these 
publications and speeches, and the confidence of the 
people in the American Colonization Society, that for 
the accomplishment of its purpose the Congress of the 
United States appropriated 8130,000 ; the State of 
Maryland, $200,000 in 1832 ; and Virginia, 118,000 
yearly for five years. From 1820 to 1834, 1266,000 
was expended in this work, according to their re- 
ports. 

Auxiliary societies were formed in many of the 



68 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Northern States, and newspapers throughout the land 
advertised and praised its work. Many were the de- 
vices for increasing the resources of the society. 
When Maryland appropriated its 1200,000, it ap- 
pealed to "the benevolence of the North." The 
appeal was founded upon two solemn declarations : 
first, that " it aimed at the extirpation of slavery in 
Maryland, by colonization ; " and second, that it con- 
templated "founding a nation on the principles of 
temperance." 

Yet Henry Clay, a vice-president of the society, de- 
clared in the South : " From its origin and throughout 
the whole period of its existence, it has constantly dis- 
claimed all intention whatever of interfering in the 
smallest degree with the rights of property or the ob- 
ject of emancipation, gradual or immediate." It is 
undoubtedly a fact that the society had for its object, 
not the liberating of the slaves or the betterment of 
their condition, but the removal from their midst of 
what tliey called " a dangerous class of citizens." 

While the law required that it must be with the 
person's consent that he was removed, it was very easy 
to find a way to muhe him consent if he objected, and 
evidences of torture, whipping and coercion are not 
wanting. Section XII. of the laws of Maryland pro- 
vided as follows : " If any free negro or mulatto shall 
be convicted of any crime, committed after the passage 
of this act, which may not by the laws of this State 
be punished by hanging by the neck, such free negro 
or mulatto may, at the discretion of the court, be sen- 
tenced to the penalties and punishments provided by 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 59 

law, or be banished from the State, or be transported 
into some foreign country." This coidd be done at 
the expense of the Colonization Society. 

They confess to having sent 3162 persons of color 
to their colony in sixteen years. At their estimate of 
$30 each, this would have cost 89-4,860. TVe may note 
also that if the estimate of their statesman, Mr. 
Wright, is correct, during this time 240,000 slaves 
had been brought to Southern ports from Africa, 
More likely than not, many of the " dangerous class 
of colored people " had been converted by their sea 
voyage into first class slaves, worth a thousand dol- 
lars each. 

How long would it have taken for the American 
Colonization Society to have removed from the shores 
of the sunny Southland its colored population I 

Surely no one need make an apology for believing 
in the society, when Wdberforce could thus express 
himself, which he did in a letter to Mr. Cresson, one 
of their agents : " You have gladdened my heart by 
convincing me that, sanguine as had been my hopes of 
the happy effects to be produced by your institution, 
all my anticipations are scanty and cold compared to 
the reality." 

But good men of America and England finally 
awoke to the real truth. After ha%'ing avowed its 
cause, upon seeing its true nature, AVilberf orce says : 
" Our objections to it are chiefiy these : while we 
believe its pretexts to be delusive, we are convinced 
that its real effects are of the most dangerous nature. 
It takes its root from a cruel prejudice and alienation 



GO SOUTHERN HEROES. 

in the whites of America against the colored people, 
slave or free. This being its source, the effects are 
what might be expected : that it fosters and increases 
the spirit of caste already so unhappily predominant ; 
that it widens the breach between the two races ; ex- 
poses the colored people to practical persecution in 
order to force them to emigrate ; and finally, is calcu- 
lated to swallow up and divert that feeling which 
America, as a Christian and free country, cannot but 
entertain, — that slavery is alike incompatible with 
the laws of God and man, whether of the enslaver 
or the enslaved. We must be understood to utterly 
repudiate the principles of the American Colonization 
Society." 

Having once lent its columns to this interest, the 
editor of the " Christian Observer " finally expressed 
himself thus : " The unchristian prejudice of color, 
which alone has given birth to the Colonization 
Society, though varnished over with other more plea- 
surable pretenses and veiled under a profession of 
Christian regard for the temporal interests of the 
negro, which is belied by the whole course of its rea- 
sonings and the spirit of its measures, is so detestable 
in itself that I think it ought not to be tolerated, but 
on the contrary ought to be denounced and opposed 
by all humane and especially by all pious people in 
this country." 

The following is an extract from a letter written by 
William Allen of London, known widely as a Quaker 
philanthropist : " Having heard thy exposition of the 
origin and main object of the American Colonization 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 61 

Society, at the meeting on the 13th inst., at Exeter 
Hall, and having read their own printed documents, I 
hardly know how adequately to express my surprise 
and indignation that my correspondents in North 
America should not have informed me of the real 
principles of the society, and also that Elliott Cresson, 
knowing, as he must have known, the abominable sen- 
timents that it has printed and published, should have 
condescended to become its agent." 

In a latter dated 7/15, 1833, a Massachusetts 
clergyman says : " It is a scheme in which I was once 
deeply interested. I have spoken and written and 
preached and taken contributions in its behalf. I did 
not then understand the real nature of the scheme. I 
meant well in espousing it, but I now see my error 
and my sin ; and though it was a sin of ignorance, I 
desire to repent of it." 

The societies formed for the direct abolition of the 
slaves were the objects of censure by the American 
Colonization Society ; and with the powerful influence 
it exerted both North and South, it was hard work 
for the smaller organizations to get a start. But the 
abominable work of this society was not to continue. 
The selfish motives of its managers were finally dis- 
covered, and the work of the society came to an end. 
Abraham Lincoln was not the first to issue an 
emancipation proclamation, liberating the Southern 
slaves. Friends early began to see the sin of slavery. 
In 1711, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting condemned 
the importation of slaves. In 1740, North Carolina 
Yearly Meeting began the agitation of the question of 



62 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

freeing them. In 1743, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting 
adopted a query asking if Friends were careful not to 
encourage the importation of slaves or buy them after 
they were imported, although in 1688 they had refused 
to consider the subject of the unchristian nature of 
slavery. In 1758, they appointed John Woolman and 
others to labor witli Friends on this account, at the 
request of Germanto^vn Friends under the leading of 
Francis Daniel Pastorius, who, with other Germans, 
had been induced by William Penn to con>c to Penn- 
sylvania. 

In 1776, the reports of one quarterly meeting show 
that they had manumitted 125 slaves, and then the 
yearly meeting concluded that those who refused to 
take the advice of Friends in this matter should be 
disowned. 

In 1783, the minutes of the yearly meeting state : 
" There are no slaves among us, except a few cases 
difficultly circumstanced." The same year, at the re- 
conunendation of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Eng- 
lish Friends presented to the House of Commons a 
petition against the African slave-trade, which was 
signed by 273 English Friends. 

Southern Friends moved cautiously in this matter, 
for much besides monetary interest was at stake. 
Care was needed that their members should be edu- 
cated in regard to the sin of slavery lest, as was the 
case with most other churches, there might be a divi- 
sion among themselves and a sejiaration from their 
brethren in the North upon this question. Many did 
not see with their leaders at once, but jjatience and 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 63 

perseverance were needed on tlie part of the more ad- 
vanced. Before any decided action could be taken, 
there must be a degree of unity. 

In 1758, North Carolina Yearly Meeting issued a 
minute making provisions for negroes to hold meet- 
ings for worship, and in 1770 they issued another, in 
which the importation of slaves from Africa was 
declared iniquitous, and purchasing them from trad- 
ers and dealers was disapproved, although they were 
allowed to purchase them from neighbors to prevent 
the separation of husbands from wives or children 
from parents. 

In 1786, Friends became so united as to the sin of 
slavery that they adopted a clause of discipline for- 
mally condemning the entire system. The Yearly 
Meeting of Friends in Virginia had done this a few 
months before. 

For years committees were under appointment to 
advise with Friends in relation to the subject of 
manumitting their slaves, to aid in preparing needed 
legal papers, and sometimes to furnish money for 
their removal. Laws had been passed which forbade 
the freeing of slaves within a slave State, so these 
committees gave legally prepared receipts for the 
blacks, and thus often became the masters of many 
persons and families. When a suflScient number was 
o-athered, they went with them to a free State, or to 
Liberia. Friends Nicholson and White of Belvidere, 
N. C, made several journeys with such companies. 
As they were the legal owners, the law could not pre- 
vent their taking the slaves ^way, and when they 



64 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

arrived at the place chosen, they did what they could 
to put the negroes in a way for seK-suj)port. 

Edmund Peele, a prominent Friend of Rich Square, 
N. C, at one time liberated 125 of his own slaves, 
took them to Liberia, Africa, at his own expense, 
gave each $25 with which to start in his new home, 
and began his changed life with such reduced resources 
as proved his action to have been a sacrifice for prin- 
ciple, which was really very great. Yet greater was 
the inheritance of Christian character which he left 
his worthy children. It was of far more value than 
all the slaves he could have given them. 

So successful was the labor of the Friends in the 
education of their members on this subject, that very 
few were disowned, and in 1818 we find on their 
records this brief minute : " None held as slaves." 

The Methodist and Moravian churches, who had 
formerly been non-slaveholding, gradually yielded to 
the influences around them, leaving the Friends alone 
in all the South to bear witness against the sin of slav- 
ery. This they did in various ways. The legislatures 
of North Carolina and Tennessee were memorialized 
almost yearly from 1787 until 1834. Their protest 
was sometimes given a second reading, and, though 
never acted upon, it could but have an influence which 
was not wholly lost. At least it was well understood 
that while ministers were pleading for slavery and 
church members were so generally practising it, there 
was one religious body in their midst which could not, 
for conscience' sake, participate in what the law, com- 
mon custom, and even religious opinion so fully 
sanctioned. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 65 

Aside from tlie pecuniary loss to Friends in liber- 
ating so many slaves on whom tliey depended for 
labor, we may note the fact that to labor with one's 
own hands, through the blighting influence of slavery, 
was considered degrading ; and he who thus labored 
was looked upon as being " no better than a nigger." 
So difficult was it to obtain free labor, either black or 
white, that Friends had to content themselves with 
less income, and also to take a lower social standing 
than they would otherwise have had. 

While the Friends were considering what to do and 
how to act under their trying circumstances, the pro- 
phetic voice of their preachers was heard, telling them 
of the judgments of the Almighty that were coming 
upon the Southland because of the cry of her bond- 
men, and warning them to flee lest they be partakers 
of the chastisement. One minister in particular 
visited every meeting of Friends in Georgia, South 
Carolina, and lower North Carolina, preaching a day 
of vengeance and warning the Friends to escape. 
The result was that the entire body of Friends in that 
region, and many from the other parts of North Caro- 
lina and from Virginia and Maryland emigrated to 
Ohio, Indiana, and other Western States. 

There were no vestibule trains for them then ; no 
freight cars for their goods ; no cattle cars for their 
stock. In the canvas-covered wagons, now so seldom 
seen, except in some parts of North Carolina, were 
closely packed the bedding, furniture, provisions, feed 
for the horses, and the few other absolute necessities 
for along journey, most of the way through a wilderness 



66 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

country. The pot for boiling the family food is tied 
under the axle-tree ; the frying pan handle is thrust 
between an outside strip and the wagon bed ; the axe 
is in its place on the wagon hounds ; the feed box for 
the horses is fastened to the hind end of the waaon 
bed, where the canvas cover extends a little over the 
heads of the horses while they eat their well-earned 
grain, or stand during a storm, a little sheltered from 
its fury. 

The old homestead has been sold ; the hearthstone 
around which the children for generations have 
gathered is forsaken, and with a lingering look upon 
the familiar scenes of what has been their home, the 
women and children are helped into the wagon, the 
horses hitched up and the journey begun. 

They often moved in bodies ; whole meetings 
gathered at a place and time previously agreed upon, 
and then, as a caravan, together made their way west, 
cutting through forests or bridging streams in their 
wearisome journey from slavery's land to the land of 
freedom. 

On the First day of the week they and their horses 
rested from their labors, and gathered within their 
corral of wagons for protection from wild beasts. 
Here they held their meetings to worship God, sitting 
around their camp-fires in the midst of the primeval 
forest ; and God was as willing to manifest his pres- 
ence and grant his blessing to those who worshipped 
Him, under the blue canopy of heaven, as when they 
were in their now forsaken homes. Here the minister's 
voice might be listened to, not only by his little flock, 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 67 

but by the wild beasts without the enclosure, whose 
voices might in turn be heard during the silence of the 
meeting. We can imagine them gathering about 
their camp-j&res each evening, after the supper had 
been cooked and eaten and the horses fed and curried, 
sometimes talking with grave faces of the uncertainty 
of the new life upon which they were entering, yet 
steadfast in their belief that the same Lord who led 
His people through the wilderness and gave them a 
good land would bless them and multiply them in the 
land to which they were going for conscience' sake. 

Upon arrival at the neighborhood chosen for their 
settlement, they would sometimes form almost the 
same community of people, and name their town and 
meeting the same as that which they had left in the 
Southland, and with courageous heart begin the work 
of restoring their lost fortunes, with a spirit of freedom 
and happiness. 

Many of the leading members of church and state 
of the Western country to-day are descendants of this 
worthy ancestry. The active membership of the 
Yearly Meetings of Ohio, Indiana, Western Iowa, 
Kansas, Wilmington, Oregon, and California is com- 
posed largely of native Southerners or their de- 
scendants. 

At one time before the war it looked as though 
there would be none left of the 25,000 Friends 
in these Southern States ; and North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting, considering the subject of the rapid diminu- 
tion of her members, yet rejoicing in the prosperity 
of her children in their new homes, said : " We grate- 



68 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

fully record our sense of the blessings which thus 
rewarded the faithfulness of one generation in the 
prosperity of the next, and overruled their straitened 
position in their own land for the spreading abroad 
of their tents, and we trust to the honor of Him 
who setteth the poor on high from his affliction, and 
maketh him families like a flock." 



CHAPTER IV. 

What gives the wheat-field blades of steel ? 

What points the rebel cannon ? 

What sets the roaring rabble's heel 

On the old star-spangled pennon ? 

What breaks the oath of the men o' the South ? 

What whets the knife for the Union's life ? 

Hark to the answer, — Slavery. 

Whittier. 

As we liave learned, many laws were enacted in 
tlie United States to suit the supposed interests of 
the slaveholders, and were framed with a special 
view to keep the slave " in the eye of the law " as 
property, with no more rights nor privileges than any 
other animal, — hardly as many. 

The laws of South Carolina provided that a slave 
might be required to work fifteen hours per day. If 
a slave were killed in a " sudden heat or passion," or 
" by undue correction," the murderer had to pay a 
fine or be imprisoned for six months ; but if a slave In 
any way resisted a white man when under punishment 
or otherwise, or should strike a white man, he must 
suffer such punishment as the justice might see fit, 
and in some States the second or third offense was 
punishable by death. 

In Mississippi there were thirty-eight offenses, the 
violation of any one of which was punishable by 



70 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

death ; in Virginia there were seventy-one. It was 
left for the magistrates to determine the penalty 
without the trouble or cost of further trial. Some of 
the States had more severe laws than others, but all 
slave States and many Northern ones had laws very 
prejudicial against the slave or free colored person. 
Most of these laws were in operation in the District 
of Columbia, under the direct control of the United 
States government. 

Such was the slaveholders' power in Congress that 
the capital of this great nation was one of the greatest 
slave marts in this or any other country. Here any 
colored person might be cast into prison upon real or 
feigned suspicion of being a slave, and unless claimed 
by a white man as his slave, or able there to prove his 
freedom, he was sold for life as a slave to pay his 
jail fees. In many cases this law was carried into 
effect, and the United States became a party to the 
great sin of robbing an American citizen of his liberty 
for no crime or offence against her laws, but because 
in his ignorance and misfortune he was unable to 
prove that his mother was a free woman when he was 
born. 

Within the ten miles square constituting the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, there were six thousand human 
beings held as slaves in the year 1835, and this num- 
ber rapidly increased. According to law, any of the 
jails in this district were to be opened to receive the 
slaves of the trader while he was waiting to gather liis 
proposed number for sale there or to be shijiped, and 
be they few or many, they were fed and cared for 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 71 

until the owner called for them. County jails and 
prisons generally were practically the free hotels for 
lodging and feeding the slave as he was being moved 
around the country, except it may have been a small 
fee to the jailer. Thus the slaveholder was saved 
much of the expense for their food and lodging while 
he was in town, as well as the bother of keeping them 
and the danger of their escape. 

We find that, in the city of Washington, for four 
hundred dollars men were licensed to deal in human 
flesh, and under the shadow of the Capitol of this free 
comitry, coffles were made up from her prisons and 
started on their long march South. The daily papers 
gave much space to such advertisements as this : 

'"'■Cash for two hundred negroes. We will give 
cash for two hundred likely young negroes of both 
sexes, families included. Persons wishing to dis- 
pose of their slaves will do well to give us a call, 
as we will give higher prices in cash than any other 
purchasers who are now in or may hereafter come to 
this market. All communications will meet attention. 
We can at all times be found at our residence on 
Seventh Street, immediately south of the Centre 
Market House. Joseph W. Neal & Co. 

Washington, D. C, Sept. 13, 1834." 

Other firms advertised for slaves by the hundred, 
and if it is a question what they did with them, 
we will remind the reader that he might find in the 
same paper advertised as sailing regularly for New 
Orleans the packets Brig and Tribune, and the brig 



72 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Uncas, captains Smith and Bouse, leaving every thirty 
days during the shipping- season. These were regular 
slavers, as much as any that sailed from the shores 
of Africa with their cargoes of human flesh. Per- 
haps it was a less dangerous business, but it was 
more expensive. 

The following is from a letter written by a Mr. 
Leavitt, January 23, 1834, published in a New York 
newspaper : " I visited the slave-factory of Franklin 
and Armfield at Alexandria, and was informed by 
one of the principals of the firm that the number of 
slaves carried from the District of Columbia last year 
was about one thousand, but it would be much greater 
this year. He expected that their house alone would 
ship at least eleven or twelve hundred. They have 
two vessels of their own constantly employed carrying 
slaves to New Orleans." 

Mr. Leavitt went on board the Tribune and was 
shown over her by the captain. He saw the arrange- 
ments for stowing away the slaves in the hold, which 
was divided into two apartments. The after hold, he 
says, would hold about eighty women ; the other, 
about one hundred men. They were stowed away on 
platforms as close as they could well be. 

In 1831, the Big Comet, a brig belonging to this 
company, was wrecked on Abaco, one of the Bahamas, 
with one hundred and sixty slaves on board. 

Every effort made by the anti-slavery societies to 
rid the national capital of the sin of slavery and the 
slave-trade was promptly met by the counter influence 
of the American Colonization Society ; and the inter- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 73 

ests of officers in the government were in so many 
cases allied with the system, that it seemed as impos- 
sible to accomplish what they wished to do, as it now 
does to the temperance workers to rid the govern- 
ment of its connection with the liquor interest, which 
is so closely guarded by the legal cloak. 

But as " nothing was more certainly written in the 
book of fate than that tliis people should be free," 
as Jefferson said, so in some unlooked for manner, it 
may be, the strength of the people's voice will be felt, 
and we may have the bonds of another class of slaves 
broken, and the sons of America may continue to rise 
in the strength and grandeur of the nobler workman- 
ship of God's hand, filling the place in the home, in 
the nation, that belongs to an enlightened Christian 
manhood. 

Northern men were not all abolitionists before the 
war. Many who really wished the slaves free were 
unwilling to incur the displeasure of the slaveholders 
and their friends. 

As late as 1835, Boston sentiment was such that 
George Thompson, an Englishman, was not permitted 
to plead the cause of the slave in that city. An in- 
cendiary hand-bill, offering a reward of one hundred 
dollars for his seizure, with a view to tarring and 
feathering him, was freely distributed, and but for 
his absence from the city, his life would probably 
have been taken by the violent mob which gathered 
in consequence. He had many narrow escapes in 
other places, being repeatedly mobbed, and was finally 
obliged to leave the country. 



74 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

With great care he was secreted on board a British 
ship and sent to England. Returning in 1850, he 
did address large audiences in Boston and elsewhere, 
but still encountered mobocratic violence. 

William Lloyd Garrison was awakened to the sin 
of slavery by Benjamin Lundy, and was inspired in 
his crusade for immediate emancipation by Elizabeth 
Heyrick, an English Friend who wrote a stirring- 
pamphlet in favor of that doctrine. He was im- 
prisoned in Baltimore, mobbed and dragged through 
the streets of Boston, and five thousand dollars was 
offered for his arrest and conviction by the State of 
Georgia. 

WendeU Phillips, the gifted orator, was mobbed, 
pelted with rotten eggs, and threatened with hanging 
for taking up the cause of the oppressed slave. 

In April, 1834, an anti-slavery society was organ- 
ized in Haverhill, Mass., with John Greenleaf Whit- 
tier as its corresponding secretary. The opposition 
was as strong here as in Boston or any other part 
of New England. In 1835, John G. Whittier had 
arranged for Rev. Samuel J. May to lecture in the 
Chi'istian chapel in HaverhiU. Mr. May says : " I 
had spoken about fifteen minutes when the most 
hideous cries and yells from a crowd of men who had 
surrounded the house, startled us, and then came 
heavy missiles and stones against the doors and the 
blinds of the windows. I persisted in speaking for a 
few minutes, hoping that the blinds and doors were 
strong enough to stand the siege ; but presently a 
heavy stone broke through one of the blinds, shat- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 75 ' 

tered a pane of glass, and fell on the head of a lady 
sitting- near the centre of the hall. She uttered a 
shriek, and fell bleeding into the arms of her sister. 
The panic-stricken audience arose en masse and made 
a rush for the doors." 

Mr. May escaped by walking through the crowd 
between two ladies, one of them Mr. Whittier's sister. 
A loaded cannon was being drawn to the place by an 
infuriated mob, and would doubtless have been used 
to slay the people who had gathered to consider the 
question of freedom for the Southern slave. 

This same evening, John G. Whittier was with 
George Thompson of England holding an anti-slavery 
meeting at Concord, N. H. They were mobbed and 
beaten. Whittier was obliged to seek refuge in the 
house of a friend named Kent, who, though not an 
abolitionist, told the mob that they could have Whit- 
tier only over his dead body. Whittier, becoming 
anxious for his friend George Thompson, who had 
sought refuge in another house, borrowed a hat and 
went in search of him. Cannon were brought and it 
looked as though they would be killed ; but with the 
aid of a horse and buggy which were furnished them 
at a back way, they escaped to a distant inn, where 
they took breakfast. Little suspecting the identity of 
his guests, the landlord talked freely of the disturb- 
ance, and spoke of Whittier as " an ignorant sort of 
fellow," using many other expressions not very com- 
plimentary to either of them. He was much sur- 
prised to hear Whittier say, just before stejiping into 
the buggy, after George Thompson was seated, " Well, 



76 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

this is my friend George Thompson, and I am John 
G. Whittier." Stepping quickly into the buggy, he 
drove rapidly away, leaving the landlord to look and 
wonder. For two weeks he kept his friend hidden 
about the farm. 

Durins: the excitement in Boston, when William 
Lloyd Garrison was imprisoned in jail for a night, to 
save him from the fury of the mob, John G. Whit- 
tier went to see him. Such was the excitement and 
antipathy aroused against him as an abolitionist, that 
he said he would have felt safer that night in jail 
with William Lloyd Garrison. 

In 1831 an attempt was made to establisn a school 
in New Haven, Conn., for the education of the colored 
people; but it was promptly stopped by the mayor, 
aldermen, and common council, upon their own re- 
sponsibility. 

In 1832 a refined Christian lady, a Miss Crandall 
of Canterbury, Conn., as school teacher, was applied 
to by a pious colored woman for admission to the 
school, saying that she wanted to gain enough know- 
ledge to teach the colored children. Miss Crandall 
admitted her, but was soon informed that the woman 
must be dismissed. She then determined to open a 
school for colored children. She was ari'ested, and a 
" town meeting " was held to consider the subject. 
The clerk of the meeting made a speech in which he 
said if the school went into operation their children 
would be ruined forever, and property no longer safe. 
He said that they had a law which should prevent that 
school from going into operation. The civil authori- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 77 

ties and selectmen of Canterbury appealed to the Col- 
onization Society for their help, and Miss Crandall 
was sent to jail. WiUiam Lloyd Garrison said that 
this work was but one of the genuine flowers of the 
Colonization Society's garden. 

In 1838 the office of the " Philanthropist," an abo- 
lition paper published by Achilles Pugh, a Friend, in 
Cincinnati, was ransacked by a mob. Much valuable 
property was destroyed. In 1844 another mob, stirred 
up by slaveholders and their sympathizers, was suf- 
fered by the authorities to enter the press rooms and 
office and destroy the presses and office furniture, and 
completely ruin his business, while the officials of the 
city looked on with apparent approval. 

Abigail and Lydia Mott, sisters, and members of 
the Society of Friends, became interested in emanci- 
pation. Their home in Albany, N. Y., was opened to 
those engaged in active work. They made the sub- 
ject a study and arranged for public speeches upon it, 
bearing much of the expense. Their counsel was 
often sought by William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell 
Phillips, Edmund Quincy and many others. William 
Lloyd Garrison speaks of these sisters as " abolition- 
ists, vigilant, uncompromising, well-balanced, clear in 
vision, sound in judgment, discerners of spirits, and 
many-sided reformers." 

Josephine Griffin, lifting her voice for freedom, in 
Ohio and Michigan, faced mobs whose violent demon- 
strations would have alarmed less fearless advocates. 
At Ann Arbor, Michigan, on one occasion she stood 
for more than an hour before a howling, angry, threat- 



78 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

eiiing mob, before she could get them sufficiently 
quiet to listen to her appeal for the oppressed slave. 

These facts show a little of the public sentiment 
which reformers, even in the Northern States, were 
obliged to face. 

Laura Haviland, now a minister among Friends in 
Chicago, rejoices in the distinction of having, with 
her husband, formed in 1839 the first school in 
America, except Oberlin, where colored and white 
could be received as students, upon equal terms. This 
school was situated at Raisin Valley, Michigan, where 
a settlement of colored people had been formed. Some 
of them were runaway slaves, who, after ha ring lived 
there in peace and happiness for some time, were 
aroused one night from their slumber by the demands 
of a group of men from Kentucky, who had come to 
claim as their jjroperty and to return to bondage these 
citizens of a free State. Several of these poor colored 
jjeople were captured after a hard fight, and taken 
hm-riedly away ; but the citizens of Raisin Valley 
were not ready to allow such a summary withdrawal 
of any of their number by an armed force. Warrants 
were quickly issued and a posse, led by an abolitionist 
officer, were soon in pursuit, and all the invaders were 
placed under arrest. Among them was a preacher 
who claimed as his share a black man in the company 
who had been wounded before his capture. At the 
coming of the invaders, the wife of the latter had hur- 
riedly left her bed to arouse the neighbors. In the 
bed she had left her baby. The preacher, seeing the 
baby, claimed it as his property, — worth two or three 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 79 

hundred dollars in the slave market, — and took it 
away with him. The officer in charge of the rescuing 
party made the preacher get off of the horse which he 
was riding and allow the wounded man to ride. Not 
satisfied with thus humiliating him, he aroused the 
people by the way, calling them to " Come and see the 
preacher negro-stealer," who still carried the baby in 
his arms. So terribly did the officer taunt him and 
stir up the people to ridicule him, that the preacher 
actually cried in the street and begged to be relieved 
of the baby. 

By law the child followed the condition of the col- 
ored mother, and as the mother of this child was un^' 
questionably a free woman, it was a clear case of kid- 
napping on the part of the negro hunters. 

They were put in jail and allowed to send for coun- 
sel, and while they were waiting for trial the colored 
people were consigned to the care of the Underground 
Railroad. The Kentuckians were very glad to be 
allowed to go home after paying costs ; but they did 
not depart without expressing their opinion of " that 
woman abolitionist, Laura Haviland, the negro 
stealer," whom they charged with being the cause of 
all their troubles. The sum of $3000 was offered for 
her head by slaveholders, yet she has outlived many 
if not all of those who sought her life, and now, in 
her eighty-sixth year, is actively engaged in holding 
revival meetings and preaching the Gospel of Peace. 

Thomas Garrett, a merchant of Wilmington, Dela- 
ware, was another friend of the slave, whose interest 
in and efforts for the freedom of the nesrro won for 



80 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

liiia tlic curses of the slaveholders and an offer of 
$2500 for his body, dead or alive. lie was known 
by some as the " Fighting Quaker," and while he was 
not really a fighter, nor do we know of his ever hav- 
ing in this respect departed from the " views of 
Friends," yet fighting men had great respect for his 
physical j^owers, and were often made to think it most 
prudent to avoid an occasion for conflict. 

On one occasion some slaveholders had secured a 
fugitive. lie was in a room bound with ropes, and 
several men were guarding him. On learning of the 
case Thomas Garrett hastened to the room and started 
directly for the captive. Knives and pistols were at 
once drawn and his life was threatened ; but looking 
calmly at the men he said, " Put these things away ; 
none but cowards use such," and showing a little of 
his muscular power by pushing aside those in his way, 
he proceeded to cut the cords that bound the poor 
man, and actually led him away and sent him to Can- 
ada by the Underground Railroad. 

Thomas Garrett's home was well known to be a 
station on this road to freedom. One day a woman 
closely pursued by policemen and slaveholders was 
seen by an Irishman running towards him as he stood 
in an alley near the gate of Thomas Garrett's back 
yard. While he did not profess to be an abolitionist, 
but rather the contrary, his warm Irish heart was 
touched with sympathy for this fleeing woman. Open- 
ing the gate he told her to enter, saying, " You find 
Thomas Garrett and you are safe sure." She was 
seen from the house and hurriedly taken upstairs, fed 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 81 

and comforted. The slaveholders thought her as 
good as captured. Leaving a guard to watch the 
place, they went for a warrant to search the house. 
Thomas and his wife were entertaining a party of 
guests in the parlors. In order that those outside 
might see within, Thomas opened the blinds and stirred 
the fire in the grate, making a bright light. Mrs. 
Garrett then asked to be excused for a little while and 
went upstaii's. Soon after Thomas also excused him- 
self, and with hat in hand called loudly at the foot of 
the stairway, " Is thee ready, wife ? " In answer to 
this call a woman appeared, clad in plain bonnet and 
cloak, veiled, and ready for a walk. She took his 
arm and they passed the policeman standing guard 
near the door. Thomas spoke pleasantly to him and 
jocosely to the boy watching by the gate ; they walked 
several blocks, passing a number of his acquaintances 
and policemen who were looking for the slave. When 
the house of a certain negro was reached, they en- 
tered. Thomas soon after left by the back door, re- 
turned home by another way, and entering the rear of 
bis own home met his wife waiting for him in her 
chamber, and together they returned to the parlor. In 
speaking of the matter afterwards, Thomas said he 
thought the police had a better night's sleep than if 
they had caught the poor creature, and she would be 
better off in Canada. 

Finally Thomas Garrett was brought before the 
court. When returning from a business trij) into 
lower Delaware, he had overtaken two colored men, 
who asked for a ride, and whose request was granted 



82 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

cheerfully. They got out at a crossing in the city, 
but some one had seen them, and Thomas was indicted 
before the grand jury for " aiding and abetting run- 
away slaves." He was fined $3000, and when the 
judge had finished his long charge. Friend Garrett 
said, " Is thee done ? " The judge replied that he was, 
and then Thomas said, " I mean no disrespect to thee, 
for thee is doing the duty of thy office, according to 
thy idea of it, but I must say that I shall feel in con- 
science bound to do this same thing again when way 
opens." Thomas Garrett lived to rejoice in the Eman- 
cipation Proclamation, passing away in 1871, in the 
seventy-fifth year of his age. 

John Fairchild, who was brought up in Virginia 
amid the evil influences and luxuries of slavery, not- 
withstanding his personal interests, became firmly 
convinced that slavery was a sin against the colored 
man. As to sin against God, he seemed to think lit- 
tle, for he was a wicked man ; but he boldly under- 
took the cause of the oppressed slave, and worked for 
many years with as little regard to sin against their 
owners as against God. 

When quite young he decided to find a home in 
some place where there were no slaves, and accord- 
ingly went to Ohio. Wishing to take with him one 
of his uncle's colored boys, to whom he had become 
much attached, he advised the slave to steal one of 
his master's horses and start one night in advance of 
him. This was done, and with Bill traveling as his 
servant, he reached Ohio and went on to Canada. 
There John found so many colored people whose 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 83 

wives, husbands, children, or friends were still in 
bondage, and whom they wished him to aid in their 
escape, that he listened to their pleading and agreed to 
undertake the work, in full knowledge of its danger. 

To effect his purpose he went to the homes of slave- 
owners with a body-servant, sometimes as a dealer 
looking for purchases, abusing niggers and denoun- 
cing abolitionists in the presence of his host, but 
secretly carrying on his mission with the blacks. If 
horses were needed, the negroes took them ; if pistols 
and knives were thought necessary, John furnished 
them. He said that the negroes had earned the horses, 
therefore it was no injustice to take them. Sometimes 
he was arrested, but in some manner he always man- 
aged to escape. At one time he suffered much from 
exposure and abuse, during a cold winter, in a prison 
in Kentucky, but by outside aid he escaped before his 
trial, which would doubtless have sent him to the pen- 
itentiary. He then went to Cincinnati, where he lay 
ill for a long time as a result of his imprisonment and 
exposure. 

The president of the Underground Railroad, Levi 
Coffin, visited him during his sickness and endeavored 
to persuade him to give up his hazardous way of work- 
ing, risking his life and the lives of others as he did, 
advising him very strongly to go to his home in Can- 
ada and never cross the Mason and Dixon line again. 
But Fairchild swore most positively that he would 
liberate a slave for every day he had lain in prison. 

After resting a few weeks he disappeared. He was 
soon afterwards heard of crossing^ the Ohio River with 



84 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

twenty-eight fugitives from Kentucky. Committing 
them to the care of the Underground Raih-oad, he re- 
turned to the South, and soon reported in Detroit, 
Michigan, with thirty more from Mississippi. Hav- 
ino" the names of some in Baltimore and Washington 
whose friends were anxious to have him liberate them, 
he finally consented to undertake it. He visited Phil- 
adelphia and purchased wigs and powder, for which 
he expended 880, and used them to convert the light 
colored slaves of Baltimore and Washington into re- 
spectable looking white citizens. One of them was so 
dark as to make it too much of a risk for the whole 
enterprise to take him along, and the man had to be 
left. Without being suspected, John Fairchild suc- 
ceeded in shipping two companies west as first-class 
passengers. Some members of the third party which 
he started were missed by their owners, and informa- 
tion that they were on the train was somehow obtained. 
They w^ere on a fast express to Pittsburg. An engine 
was attached to a single coach and chase was given by 
the owners. The express had a good start, however, 
and though the slave-owners were determined to suc- 
ceed, they could not overtake the train until just be- 
fore it arrived at Pittsburg. Finding themselves 
pursued, the passengers did not see fit to await the 
stopping of the train in the station, but all jumped off 
just before the train was stopped, and quickly scat- 
tered through the city to safe hiding-places. They 
were hotly pursued by their owners, but were not 
taken, and in due time made their way to Canada. 
One moonlight night, with a large company of fugi- 



r 

SOUTHERN HEROES. 85 

tives, John Faircliild was crossing a bridge. Armed 
men were lying in ambusli at each end of it, and to- 
gether began firing at the negroes as they were about 
midway of the bridge. Fairchild promptly gave the 
order, " Charge to the front." And charge they did, 
firing as they went. The men in ambush " scattered 
like scared sheep." When asked by Levi Coffin, to 
whom he related the incident, if any one was hurt, he 
showed him several bullet holes in his clothing, a 
slight flesh wound on his arm, and another on a ne- 
gro's leg. He said : " You see, we were in close quar- 
ters, but my men were plucky. We shot to kill, and 
we made the devils rmi." 

Upon hearing him give this account, our peace-lov- 
ing Friend, Levi Coffin, remonstrated with him for 
trying to kill people, telling him that it was better to 
suffer wrong than to do wrong ; that we shoidd love 
our enemies. " Love the devil ! " was the characteris- 
tic reply ; " slaveholders are all devils, and it is no 
harm to kill the devil. I do not intend to hurt people 
if they keep out of my way, but if they step between 
me and liberty, they must look out for the conse- 
quences. When I undertake to conduct slaves out of 
bondage, it is my duty to defend them, even to the 
last drop of my blood." 

Levi Coffin says : " It was useless to preach peace 
to John Fairchild. He would fight for the fugitive as 
long as life lasted." 

Getting his men together before starting, Fairchild 
would give them to understand that there was to 
be no turning back. It was " liberty or death." If 



86 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

pursued, they must fight if needful. He exacted from 
each one promises of positive obedience to himself. 
No one must turn back, but be ready to fight till 
death ; and if any one should turn coward, he would 
shoot him down. Fairchild, in turn, would promise to 
remain with them until they were free, or die in the 
attempt to free them. 

John Fairchild followed this work for more than 
twelve years, liberating slaves from every slave State 
in the Union, making many happy in being freed 
from bondage and united with their loved ones, and 
finding his reward in their happiness, for he was often 
needy and in rags ; but the colored people had un- 
bounded confidence in him and love for him, and 
would readily do what they could to supply his neces- 
sities when they knew of them. 

The best of fighters sometimes find themselves un- 
able to " fight their way out," and the career of John 
Fairchild was undoubtedly ended by the bullet of 
some Southerner. In 1861 he closed up his business 
in Indiana, where he thought to settle down and give 
up his hazardous work, according to the advice of 
Levi Coffin, but the recollection of slaves under the 
lash, and the pleading of their friends for his help to 
release them, doubtless proved too much for him to 
withstand. The people of the neighborhood thought 
he had gone to Canada, until they saw printed in a 
Tennessee paper, an account of an " insurrection " on 
the Cumberland river. It was stated that a body of 
armed slaves was about to rise and destroy the white 
inhabitants. The neighborhood was alarmed, and 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 87 

great excitement prevailed. A small army of men 
was gathered, and they went to hunting and hanging, 
or shooting down all slaves whom they found with 
weapons, or suspected of being in any way connected 
with the insurrection. A small company was met who 
undertook to defend themselves, but it was useless ; 
they were shot down by the overwhehning majority of 
whites. The paper stated that " among the slain was 
found one white man, a stranger to all, name im- 
known, but supposed to be the instigator of the insur- 
rection, and leader of the negroes." John Fairchild 
has never since been heard from. " They that take 
the sword shall perish by the sword." 

Some degree of respect was shown by slaveholders 
for public sentiment, when in the North. The hor- 
rors of the system were kept as mvich as possible out 
of sight ; but " down South," where for many years the 
absolute control of the slaves was unquestioned, and 
public sentiment had become so hardened by the oft- 
repeated tale and scene of suffering and death, there 
was frequently no check to the cruelty of masters, 
except their moneyed interest in the slaves, and this 
was often sacrificed to gratify their angry passion. 
The slave had no rights before the law, but was as 
other chattels. 

There was for years, before the civil war, constant 
fear on the part of the whites lest the negroes should 
attempt to free themselves. Slight reasons were 
often made excuses for the cry, " Negro insurrection," 
and then, without trial, and sometimes without pro- 
vocation, the helpless negroes were whipped to death, 



88 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

shot clown, sawn asunder, or hung, according to the 
whim of the tyrant into whose hands they had fallen. 

At Natchez, Mississippi, in 18G0 and 1861, the half- 
grown colored lads, in imitation of the whites, amused 
themselves by forming companies and marching, with 
sticks for guns. This was not objected to, or much 
noticed until two colored men were heard conversing 
upon what their masters had said : " If Abraham 
Lincoln was elected, he would free all the slaves." 
They declared that if this was so, they would go to 
the Yankees and help do it. This was reported by 
the men who overheard it, and, coupled with the train- 
ing of the boys, a story of insurrection was widely 
circidated. Negroes were said to be armed and train- 
ino- for the murdering of the whites. A meeting of 
citizens was called, and speeches of the wildest char- 
acter were made, calculated to excite the people to 
enmity and fear of the blacks. A committee of one 
hundred men was appointed, — men mostly known 
for their recklessness and cruelty, — who eagerly 
undertook to put down the insurrection by whipping 
or hanging all those who exj)ressed in their prayers 
or otherwise any desire for freedom, or any dissatis- 
faction with their lot. 

Men were chosen to watch by night and listen at 
the cabins of the slaves for any word on this subject. 
At their meetings these men woiild report, and any 
slaves reported were seized, questioned as to any 
expression they might have heard of this kind, and 
freedom was promised them if they would give infor- 
mation against any ; but after it was obtained, the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 89 

promise, having been made " only to a nigger," was 
never kept. 

It was soon known that, once in the hands of the 
vigilance committee, whipping and hanging was their 
fate, if the whipjjing did not cause death before they 
could be gotten to the gallows, which was sometimes 
the case. For many weeks Saturday was hanging 
day at Natchez, and truly it was a " reign of terror." 

First, the culprit was taken to a small two-roomed 
building. In each of these two rooms were two iron 
rings, fastened to the heavy oak floor, to which the 
slaves were securely bound. On each side stools were 
placed, on which the white men sat, and in turn applied 
the lash to the bare flesh. After this the victims 
were taken to a wagon, and sometimes as many as 
ten or a dozen were taken to the gallows and hung at 
the same time. No trial was considered necessary, no 
evidence required except the statement of the vigi- 
lance committee, that they had in some way com- 
plained of their lot. Valuable servants were some- 
times arrested and large amounts of money offered for 
their release. It is reliably stated that Joseph Rey- 
nolds offered $100,000 for the release of two valuable 
and favorite servants. Miss Mary Dunbar offered 
'flO,000 for the release of one of her three slaves, 
whom the committee had taken ; but the victims were 
never released, and these servants were whipped and 
hung, as was also a child twelve years old. 

Mrs. Haviland, in her " Woman's Life Work," is 
authority for the above, and she gives the names of 
the owners of two hundred and nine slaves who were 



90 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

hung in Natchez during the " reign of terror," proof 
of which she obtained in that city. More than four 
hundred were said to have thus perished. Some of 
the owners and better class of citizens protested and 
tried to turn the tide, but the fear aroused was so 
great, and the brutal element had gained such control, 
that they seemed powerless to arrest the flow of blood 
until Natchez was occupied by government troojis. 

The full extent of the cruel practices of slavery is 
little considered by the majority of those who think it 
is an evil. The field hands, in their long, weary day's 
work, followed by the overseers and pressed to their 
utmost exertion by the fear of the terrible lash, have 
called forth our utmost sympathy ; but there was a 
class of slaves whose sufferings were of a different 
and more acute character than that caused by the 
sting of the whip. A white woman, with enough of 
the colored blood in her veins to cause a tinge of the 
eye, or to give a tell-tale shade to the nail, was a 
slave to the passions of the most depraved, coarse, 
and brutal owners. She was placed upon the block 
for sale, her charms discussed by the vulgar, and her 
person sold to the highest bidder. This was the most 
costly class of slaves. They often brought from 
$1500 to '13000, and sometimes more. The girl was 
helpless to evade her doom, powerless to resist the 
will of her master, yet often hoping, longing, praying 
for a door of escape. What such a life was to many 
of them may be faintly seen from the following story 
of Margaret Garner. 

In January, 1855, a company of slaves belonging to 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 91 

one neighborhood had escaped to Cincinnati. On 
arrival there they separated, as a number of them 
wished to see a colored man with whom they were 
acquainted, and they made several inquiries for his 
house. This led to their being easily traced by 
their pursuers. Kite, the colored man, received them 
kindly ; but the house was soon surrounded by a 
company of United States troops and slaveholders. 
Those within barred the doors and windows, and 
refused to admit the hunters, resolving to fight till 
death rather than be taken back to slavery. 

The company was composed of an old man, his 
wife, and four children. Robert's wife was about 
half white, a bright, agreeable looking woman, twenty- 
two or twenty-three years old. The two older children 
were pretty, wooUy-headed mulatto boys. The two 
younger were girls, — one a three-year-old, with fair 
white skin, the other a rosy-cheeked baby. All were 
now within this room, surrounded by men claiming 
them as their property, notwithstanding the fact that 
the claimant in the company outside was the reputed 
father of some, if not all, of these children. 

The two colored men were armed and fought 
bravely for liberty. The window was battered down, 
and a deputy marshal, attempting to enter, was met 
with a pistol bullet that made a flesh wound in his 
arm, causing his hasty retreat. Within this cabin 
were represented several thousand dollars in human 
flesh, and the owner is claiming it by the law of the 
United States. What matters to him the wounding 
of her officers ? He demands of the law, as slaves, his 



92 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

children. Tlie clooi' is battered down, the officers 
rush in, and though several shots are fired and another 
United States officer is wounded, the colored men are 
soon overpowered and dragged out of the house. 

Seeing her husband dragged away, and knowing 
too well the fate in store for herself and these little 
ones, should they be taken back to slavery, Margaret 
seized a kitchen knife and quickly killed the little 
daughter with one stroke, by cutting her tlu'oat. She 
then seized the babe to take its life also, loving her 
children too much to allow them to grow up, if by 
any means she could prevent it, to what she well knew 
would be their fate as white girl slaves. The men 
prevented her from carrying out her design, which 
was not only to kill the babe, but the other children 
and herself. 

The whole party was taken to jail, and suit entered 
in the United States court for possession. The trial 
lasted two weeks, and created much excitement. It 
was proved that the fugitives had been allowed to 
visit the city before at various times, and by law were 
free. Margaret Garner had been there as nurse girl 
before the children were born, and, being a free 
woman, the children were also free ; but it was ruled 
that, by returning to a slave State, they had become 
slaves, and were such at the time of their escape. 

An effort was made by John J. Joliff, their coun- 
sel, to wrest them from the United States custody 
upon the charge of murder, under the law of Ohio. 
The warrants were issued, and the attorney for the 
fugitives pressed the serving of them, saying that, 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 93 

strange as it might seem for him to be pressing such 
a charge, every one of his clients said they would " go 
sin^ins: to the gallows rather than to return to 
slavery." 

The United States law provided that no warrant 
should in any event be served upon a fugitive when 
remanded to the custody of his former owner. Not 
even a warrant for murder could prevent his being 
returned to bondage. The attorney, Joliff, said the 
fugitive slave law was unconstitutional, and, as a part 
and parcel of his argument, he wished to show the 
effects of carrying it out. It had driven a frantic 
mother to murder her own child rather than see it 
carried back to the seething hell of American slavery. 
This law was of such an order that its execution 
required that human hearts should be wrung and 
human blood spilled. " It is for the court to decide 
whether the fugitive slave law overrides the law of 
Ohio to such an extent that a fugitive slave cannot be 
arrested, even for murder." 

The fugitives were finally indicted for murder, but 
by provision of the slave law they could not be tried, 
and the United States court gave them back to their 
owners and allowed them to be taken to Kentucky. 
On board a steamer they started South ; but not all 
of them returned, for the mother, still holding in her 
arms the rosy-cheeked baby girl, which had attracted 
much attention at the trial on account of its white 
skin and unusual brightness, watched for a favorable 
opportunity and sprang overboard. Immediate efforts 
were made to save them, but what the mother had 



94 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

failed to do with the knife was accomplished other- 
wise, and the babe was dead. The mother was rescued 
from the longed-for death, and taken to that which 
seemed to her so much worse. 

It is but just to say that the slaveholders gener- 
ally were not of that inhuman type which is depicted 
in this recital of the horrors of slavery. There were 
a great many kind-hearted ones who were the victims 
of the system, who were born under its blighting in- 
fluences, and knew no way to free themselves from it 
without making a greater effort or sacrifice than 
many of them were prepared to do. Many would 
not allow their slaves to be whipped, and treated 
them kindly. When this was the case, the slaves 
wfere in many instances better provided for than when 
obliged to care for themselves, and many preferred 
to remain with such masters after the Emancipation 
Proclamation was issued. 



CHAPTER V. 

Champion of those who groan beneath 
Oppression's iron hand, — 
In view of penury, hate, and death, 
I see thee fearless stand. 



Then onward with a martyr's zeal, 
And wait thy sure reward 
When man to man no more shall kneel, 
And God alone be Lord. 

Whittier. 

We will here introduce to our readers Levi Coffin, 
the President of the Underground Railroad. 

He was born in Guilford County, N. C, of Quaker 
parents and Nantucket ancestry. His father's farm 
was on the Salisbury road, near the Friends' meeting- 
house at New Garden, six miles from Greensboro. 
In this vicinity was fought the battle of Guilford 
Court House, between General Greene and Lord Corn- 
wallis, near the close of the war of the Revolution. 
Many of the soldiers slain in this battle were buried 
in the Friends' buryiug-ground, near their meeting- 
house, which was used as a hospital for the wounded. 
The houses of two Friends in the neighborhood, whose 
farms joined, were occupied by the officers of the 
opposing armies. 

The road passing this meeting-house was traveled 
for many years by slave-traders going South with 



96 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

tlieir human merchandise. The slaves were driveu 
in what were called " coffles," two slaves being fas- 
tened on each side of a heavy chain, thus making- four 
abreast. A little behind these were four more, and 
so on until all were thus fastened together. They 
were followed by a white man on horseback, carrying 
a long whip, which he sometimes used with as little 
mercy as a cruel driver might now show in driving 
cattle. A wagon followed containing supplies. Day 
after day in this manner the journey was continued, 
until the destination was reached or a sale was made. 
These coffles were never seen going North. 

The owners of the rice swamps and cane and cotton 
fields of the extreme Southern States required more 
slaves than they could raise, and they depended 
mostly upon Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, 
and Kentucky to supply the deficiency. The work 
of the more Southern States and often the greater 
cruelty in the treatment of the slaves shortened the 
years of labor, " as they toiled 'mid the cotton and the 
cane." Slaves from the upper States dreaded to be 
sold South more than anything else that could happen 
to them. 

When about seven years of age, Levi Coffin was 
with his father by the roadside and saw a coffle of 
slaves pass. His father pleasantly addressed them 
with the words, " Well, boys ! why do they chain 
you ? " One of them replied : " They have taken us 
away from our wives and children, and they chain 
us lest we should make our escape and go back to 
them." The boy was much impressed with the de- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 97 

jected api^earance of the company, and with the sad 
words that he heard, and asked his father many 
questions concerning them. His father explained as 
best he conld the sad meaning of slavery, and thus 
Levi Coffin took his first lessons as an abolitionist, 

A few years later he was at a corn husking, where 
the neighbors, white and colored, were assembled to 
" shuck the corn," which had been broken from the 
stalk in the field and piled in the yard. At sev- 
eral points surrounding the pile, posts were set in 
the ground with flat stones placed on the top, and 
here the resinous pine knots, or " light-wood," were 
burned, shedding a bright light all around. The 
white people began at one end of the pile, the colored 
at the other ; and with much story-telling, song, joke, 
and laughter they worked until the golden ears were 
stowed away. 

On this occasion, while the white people were at 
supper, Levi remained with the colored folks. Among 
them he found one named Stephen, who had been 
free born and apprenticed to a Friend named Lloyd, 
living near Philadelphia. He was engaged in helping 
drive a flock of sheep to Baltimore, and while asleep 
in the negro house of a tavern, he was seized, gagged, 
bound, hurriedly placed in a covered carriage, and 
taken to Virginia, where he was sold to a man named 
Holland. 

Holland, who was now on his way South, had 
stopped over a few days at his home, which was in 
this neighborhood. Levi reported the case to a trusty 
negro, who agreed to take Stephen the next night to 



98 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

the home of Levi's father, and give him an oppor- 
tunity to hear Stephen's story. After listening to it, 
Friend Coffin wrote at once to Edward Lloyd con- 
cerning the matter. In about two weeks' time Lloyd 
arrived, having traveled many weary miles by stage- 
coach, but he found that Stephen had been taken 
further South. 

The next day, Lloyd attended the meeting of 
Friends at New Garden and informed them of the 
circumstances. George Swain and Henry Macy 
agreed to accompany him in pursuit of the boy. 
Friends contributed money for the expenses, as well 
as a horse and saddle and other necessary equip- 
ments for the journey. They found Stephen in 
Georgia, where he had been sold. The purchaser 
gave bonds to deliver him when proof should be 
given that his mother was a free woman at the time 
of his birth, and in due time our friends returned 
and Stephen was ready to testify against his kid- 
napper, who had been arrested and given bonds to 
appear for trial ; but rather than meet Stephen in 
court and abide the judgment, he forfeited the bond. 

This was Levi Coffin's first experience in the lib- 
eration of slaves. In his father's woods he often met 
the limited negro, and " many times," he says, " I sat 
in the thicket while they devoui'ed my bounty, as I 
listened to their tales about hard masters and cruel 
treatment, or in language glowing with native elo- 
quence, they spoke of the glorious hope of freedom 
which had animated their spirits in darkest hours 
and sustained them under the lash." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 99 

During his young manhood he was often engaged 
in some way for the benefit of the slaves. He organ- 
ized a school for them, which was at first encouraged 
by some of the slaveholders, but was afterwards 
closed, as they considered it dangerous for the slaves 
to be educated. He often examined, in person or by 
proxy, coffles of slaves ; and it is surprising how 
many he found among them who had been kidnapped, 
although kidnapping was said to be strongly opposed 
by slaveholders. Many were released as a result of 
his efforts. 

He married the daughter of a neighboring Friend, 
and in September, 1826, moved to Indiana, where he 
began business as a merchant and manufacturer of 
linseed oil. There was quite a settlement of free 
colored people at the place, whose parents, if not they 
themselves, had been settled there by the committees 
of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. These colored 
people were often called upon to harbor and forward 
those who had escaped from their masters, but on 
account of their inability to manage properly, the 
owners sometimes regained possession of the fugitives. 

Levi Coffin tried to interest his neighbors in this 
subject, but met with little encouragement at first. 
Even if they wished to help, they were afraid of the 
penalty of the law. Levi told them that when a boy 
in North Carolina he had read in the Bible that it is 
right to take in the stranger and administer to him 
in distress, and he believed that it is always safe to 
do right ; that the Bible, in bidding us to feed the 
hungry and clothe the naked, said nothing about 



100 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

color, and that he should try to follow out its teach- 
ings. 

The colored people soon came to understand that 
in him they had a friend, and that a stranger knock- 
in c: at his door would be admitted. Without adver- 
tising it in the newspapers, it soon became known by 
those interested in aiding the fugitive, that if his 
house could be reached safety was assured, and fugi- 
tive slaves began arriving before he had lived a year 
in his new home. 

The Underground Railroad was not a deliberately 
organized institution, with capital stock publicly sub- 
scribed and officers annually elected at large salaries. 
Trains did not run from certain public j^laces on 
schedule time, yet they made good connections. The 
collection of fares was no part of the conductor's busi- 
ness. It was his duty to receive all who came to him 
fleeing from the laud of bondage, in pursuit of " lib- 
erty and happiness." If needful, they must be 
warmed, fed or clothed, then conveyed to the next 
most suitable station on the I'oad to Canada, without 
charge. They were, with a degree of caution, passed 
from one friendly hand to another. Sometimes they 
were kept in schoolhouse lofts where, perhaps for 
days, they were the unobserved listeners to the chil- 
dren's recitations. Sometimes they were hidden in 
hay mows, straw ricks, or between feather beds in 
some good housewife's chamber, and in all sorts of 
ways kept from the eager eyes of their pursuers. 

Levi Coffin's house soon became a Union station 
for those coming by various lines from the South, con- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 101 

verging at Newjiort, Indiana. Some of his friends 
became much concerned for him. They said that his 
business interests would suffer, that his very life was 
in danger, and that his duty toward his family and 
friends demanded that he shoidd cease his connection 
with so hazardous and disrepvitable a business. Levi 
and " Aunt Kate " had long before counted the cost. 
They knew all the dangers better than their advisers. 
They had deliberately and intelligently reached the 
conclusion that the pathway of duty was plain before 
them, and they steadfastly pursued the right, leaving 
business interests, personal safety, and all with Him 
who, they believed, had called them to this special 
work. 

When his views and practices became generally 
known, his business interests did suffer for a time, for 
men declared that they would not patronize such a 
man ; but others came to him, and his business pros- 
pered. He needed an increased income. Horses and 
wagons must be always at hand to convey guests ten, 
twenty, thirty, or forty miles on short notice, as they 
were likely to appear at any time for passage on the 
Underground Railroad. 

At this station it sometimes occurred that several 
trains arrived in the course of one night. At no time 
on retiring were Levi Coffin and his wife sure of an 
uninterrupted rest. The gentle tap might be heard at 
any hour of the night, and when heard, Levi would 
silently open the door, give a whispered invitation to 
come in, and, leaving the sitting room door open, re- 
turn to his wife and tell her of the hungry company 



102 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

needing refreshments. After the passengers had 
entered, the doors were closed and the wmdows cur- 
tained, that no spy from the outside might see what 
was going on within. Lamps were lighted, fires built, 
and soon the smell of hot coffee and cooking would 
indicate that a satisfying portion was in preparation 
for the ragged, hungry, shivering travelers. When 
warmed and fed they were put away to rest as cir- 
cumstances would permit. 

Levi Coffin was often threatened with hanging, 
shooting, and the burning of his property, bi;t he 
feared not, and often said, " Barking dogs never bite." 
On one occasion a letter was received from Ken- 
tucky which stated that on a certain night an armed 
body of men was coming to Newport to burn the town. 
Levi Coffin's store, porkhouse, and dwelling were to 
be the first fired, and if they were successful in getting 
him they intended that his life should pay for the 
crimes he had committed against Southern slavehold- 
ers. He was advised to leave town. Most of the in- 
habitants were Friends and non-combatants ; they 
raised no resisting force to meet the invaders, placed 
no pickets outside the town, but retired to rest as 
usual. None showed any fear except one poor labor- 
ing man who had built a little cabin in the woods a 
mile and a half from town. Upon hearing the spring- 
time music of the frogs he thought that the Kentuck- 
ians were coming, and hastened to towTi to give the 
alarm. 

Levi Coffin states that the largest company of fugi- 
tives ever seated at his table at one time was com- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 103 

posed of seventeen men, women and children, varying 
in color from tlie light midatto to the coal black negro. 
They were from Kentucky, and the next night after 
reaching the Ohio side of the river, when near a road, 
they heard the sound of horses' feet, and soon saw 
their pursuers close upon them. Hurriedly entering 
a large cornfield across the road, they ran for liberty 
and life, closely jjursued by fifteen or twenty armed 
men. The negroes scattered in the wilderness of tall, 
full-bladed, bottom-land Indian corn, which afforded 
a good shelter. The pursuers called to them to stop 
or they would be shot. Some recognized the voices 
of their master, but did not incline to obey. They 
had a taste and a hope of liberty, and these were al- 
ready giving them a spirit of independence. Several 
shots were fired, which they heard cutting the friendly 
maize around them. They ran several miles before 
stopping to collect their company. All could not be 
easily found, but it was very important for them to 
leave the cornfield before day; it was now nearly 
morning. 

They entered the woods near by and secreted them- 
selves in the bushes. Soon they heard the sound of 
wood-chopping, which again alarmed them, but by 
careful observation they discovered that the chopper 
was a friendly negro. He conducted them to a safe 
hiding-place and furnished them with food, as the 
bundles of clothing and food with which they had 
started had been lost during their hurried fliaht. 
They were afterwards conducted to a station on the 
Underground Railroad, where their lost companions 



104 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

soon appeared. Two of tliem were wounded, one with 
shot in his back, the other with a bullet wound several 
inches long, in his side. Two covered wagons were 
appropriated to their use, and early one morning 
" Aimt Kate," of " Uncle Tom's Cabin " fame, was 
called to the door. Upon asking who was there, she 
was told, " All Kentucky." " Well, bring all Ken- 
tucky in," was the ready response. Breakfast was 
soon ready and they were told to eat all they wanted, 
for they were among friends and in no danger of 
being captured in that neighborhood of abolitionists. 
They were soon at their ease, and " did all eat and 
were filled." 

In this case Levi Coffin called some of the neigh- 
bors in to see this valuable lot of property, the worth 
of which he estimated to be at least .117,000. They 
remained for two days. The shot were taken out of 
the man's back, and the wounded side was dressed. 
Needed clothing was furnished, and all wei'e sent on 
their way rejoicing to the house of John Bond, twenty 
miles away. 

The next morning a messenger came from Rich- 
mond, Indiana, with word that fifteen Kentuckians 
were there hunting fugitives. Levi Coffin quickly 
sent this message to John Bond with word that the 
colored people better be scattered. Thinking it safe 
to travel in that country by day, John had sent them 
forward immediately upon their arrival, lie now 
mounted a horse, pursued and overtook them, and had 
them secreted with different Friends, where they re- 
mained in hiding for several weeks, until the hunters 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 105 

had given up the chase. They were then forwarded 
to Canada. 

Meanwhile, the Kentuckians had hired a lot of 
roughs to aid them in fuiding their property, who 
formed parties and started out in different directions. 
The i)arty searcliing the town of Newport entered one 
or two at a time to avoid suspicion, and inquired of 
the children in the streets if any fugitive slaves had 
been in town lately. They were told that a lot of them 
had been at Levi Coffin's, but had gone on to Canada. 
This information was given at the meeting of the com- 
pany shortly afterward, and two divisions were sent 
to the lakes to watch for the crossing of the fleeing 
slaves into Canada. The slaveholders hired more 
men, with whom they proposed to search every 
Friends' community in that region. All their efforts 
proved futile, so that, discouraged and angry, they 
swore they would burn Levi Coffin out, shoot him at 
sight, or hang him to a limb, if it cost $10,000. 

A friend of Levi Coffin's who overheard the 
threats, and thought that they started for Newport, 
mounted a horse, and with pistols in his pockets hur- 
riedly rode to give Levi warning and help him to 
fight. He called Levi out of bed and excitedly told 
his story. Levi replied that if they had really in- 
tended to do such a thing they would never have told 
of it ; and added : " Now, thee put up thy pistols. We 
have no vise for them here, as we do not depend upon 
firearms for protection." The well-meaning visitor 
was persuaded to retire, and Levi went to bed and to 
sleep. 



106 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Soon the hunters returned South, but before going 
they conferred an honorable and lasting title upon 
our friend. They said they could get no trace of their 
slaves on top of the ground, after they reached Levi 
Coffin's house ; and declared that there must be an 
underground railroad of which he was president. This 
story they took pleasure in repeating several times in 
the city, as a good joke, and it became the talk about 
town, so that when Levi went to Richmond he was 
asked by his friends if he knew of his late promotion, 
and was told of the title given him. Levi said this 
was the first he had heard about an underground rail- 
road, and it was doubtless the origin of the term. 

Levi Coffin then expressed his willingness to act in 
any capacity to further the interests of the road, and 
by universal consent retained the title, often receiv- 
ing letters so addressed. For thirty years he served 
faithfully, and no one complained of him for embez- 
zlement of funds or for neglecting in any way the 
duties of his office. 

But the Emancipation Proclamation ruined the 
business of the road. At a called meeting of inter- 
ested parties, held at Cincinnati, amid speech-making 
and much rejoicing, the president resigned his high 
office, and the company disbanded with much good 
feeling, thinking the business of the road forever at 
an end. Of this we shall learn more later. 

Although the threats to shoot and hang our friend 
and burn his property were never carried out, these 
hunters made arrangements with their landlord and 
sympathizer at Richmond to prosecute him, and he 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 107 

was summoned before the court, charged with " aiding 
and abetting runaway slaves." He promptly con- 
fessed that a party of seventeen colored people had 
stopped at his home. They were hungry and he had 
fed them, as his Master had bidden him do. They 
said they were slaves fleeing from their masters, but 
the word of a slave was not accepted as evidence in 
that court. The testimony of other witnesses corre- 
sponded with that of Levi Coffin. The judge said : 
" Gentlemen, I think Mr. Coffin knows more about 
the fugitive slave law than you do. The case is dis- 
missed." 

On one occasion slave-hunters passed Levi Coffin's 
door, when fourteen slaves they were searching for 
were secreted in the house. He sent a man to ascer- 
tain which way they went, promptly forwarded his 
guests in another direction, and they safely reached 
Canada. 

In this company was a man who had been over the 
road before, but had returned to his master in the 
South. One morning he appeared before him, hat in 
hand, and addressed him with the following words : 
" Good mornin', massa. I 'se ready to go to work 
now; done had 'nough o' freedom. Th' ab'litionists 
is an awful set o' folks. Works a nigger mos' to deaff 
and never pays him nuffin. Canady 's a awful cold 
country ; not fit for a nigger to live in, nohow." His 
master was no less surprised than rejoiced to see Jim, 
and told him he hoped he would now make a good 
missionary among his people and the neighbors. This 
Jim promised to be. He obtained the perfect confi- 



108 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

dence of his master, would amuse and gratify him by 
telling the colored people, in his presence, of the ter- 
rible things he met with while in the North ; and the 
darkies appeared as though they woidd not for the 
world undertake to live in such a country and among 
such a people as Jim had described. Yet he did such 
faithful " missionary work " that this company of thir- 
teen was willing to leave the " Sunny South " and the 
homes their masters had provided, and go with him to 
the cold Northland and trust themselves to those 
dreadful abolitionists. Jim said he hoped the dear 
Lord would forgive him for telling so many lies to his 
master. 

Amherstburg, near the head of Lake Erie, in Can- 
ada, was the principal landing-place of fugitives for 
the western routes. It was estimated that as early as 
1844 more than forty thousand of these refugees had 
reached Her Majesty's dominions. This number in- 
creased rapidly from that time until 1861. Many of 
them arrived in a most deplorable condition, with 
scarcely anything but the free air with which to begin 
their new life. At this place there was formed a set- 
tlement of colored people, but a home for new arrivals 
was needed. Isaac J. Rice, a noble, self-sacrificing 
Presbyterian minister, left the church of which he was 
pastor, in Ohio, where he had fine prospects, to obey 
what he believed to be the call of God ; and here he 
fed, taught, and nursed those homeless, suffering peo- 
ple until homes could be provided for them. The col- 
ored people in Canada formed aid-societies, and did 
much for the relief of the new-comers. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 109 

The " Philanthropist," of Cincinnati, was the first 
paper published in the United States that advocated 
the propriety of abolitionists' using only free-labor 
goods. Soon afterwards the " Free Labor Advocate " 
appeared. It was published at Newport, Indiana, and 
edited by Benjamin Stanton, a Friend minister. 

John Woolman, of New Jersey, was doubtless the 
first man to advocate the practice and carry it out. 
He was a devoted servant of God, and a minister in 
the Society of Friends. His Journal well repays care- 
ful reading now, as we look back upon this pure man, 
taught of God. In all his ways he was consistent with 
the truth which he advocated. He was many years in 
advance of his day, and held out the light for other 
generations to see. He took up the cause of the op- 
pressed slave when almost none of his brethren could 
see with him. He visited the slaveholders in the 
South, and lovingly pleaded for their bondmen. 

Read the " Life of John Woolman," and you will 
appreciate the remark of Spurgeon concerning it, — 
" A rare gem in English literature ; " or that of 
Charles Kingsley, — " Eead Woolman's Journal and 
love the Quakers." 

Our friend Levi Coffin read this work at the time 
of the agitation of this subject, and became convinced 
that he could no longer be consistent with his work 
and words unless he, too, abstained from using and 
dealing in the products of slave labor. Accordingly 
he went to Philadelphia and New York to examine 
the market for free-labor goods. In Philadelphia he 
was satisfied by the character of such men as Enoch 



110 SOUTHERN HEROES. ^ 

Lewis, Abraham Pennock, Samuel Rhoades, George 
W. Taylor, and others, who were engaged in selling 
this class of merchandise, that the movement was 
founded upon principle. He found a cotton factory, 
managed by G. W. Taylor, that was manufacturing 
at a loss cotton grown by Friends in North Carolina. 
He bought as good an assortment of these goods as 
he could get, and then went to New York, where he 
found a grocery business conducted by Robert Liud- 
ley Murray, Lindley M. Hoag, and others. This was 
the outgrowth of the Free Labor Association of 
Friends of New York Yearly Meeting, which in 1851 
had eighty-five members, who mostly belonged to that 
meeting. He purchased groceries at higher prices 
than the same grade of goods could be purchased for 
elsewhere, but men sometimes pay for principle. 

The subject grew in the minds of Friends, and in 
184G a convention was held in Friends' meeting-house 
at Salem, Indiana, for all interested in the subject of 
free labor. For two days those in attendance dis- 
cussed ways and means to carry out their conscien- 
tious convictions, and, realizing the necessity of divid- 
ing the burden, which would be too heavy for any one 
person to bear, they made up a capital stock of three 
thousand dollars, to be loaned to a suitable person for 
five years, without interest, to enable him to open, at 
Cincinnati, a wholesale depository of free-labor goods. 
They appointed a committee to secure some one to 
take charge of the business, and that committee 
promptly agreed upon Levi Coffin. At first he de- 
clined, but no other satisfactory person could be found 



SOUTHERN HEROES. Ill 

to take the place, and he finally yielded to the earnest 
appeals of various persons interested in the cause, 
sold out his business in Newport, Indiana, and moved 
to Cincinnati, Ohio. 

He very soon found, in response to circulars issued, 
that orders were more abundant than were the goods 
to fill them. His acquaintance in the South enabled 
him to purchase free-labor cotton, which he arranged 
to have manufactured, and for ten years this business 
was kejDt up. He then retired from mercantile life. 

As at Newport, so at Cincinnati, our Friend found 
•that few white peoj^le were ready to harbor fugitives, 
and the colored citizens were often lacking in ability 
to evade the pursuing owners. Though he hoj3ed to 
be relieved from this duty upon his removal to the 
city, he found himself, on the contrary, more than 
ever engaged in it. For more than twenty years in 
Newport, Indiana, and for about ten years in Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, his home was the refuge of tlie fleeing 
slave. On an average for each of the twenty years, 
one hundred and six fugitives were received, cared 
for, and foi'warded from this station ; and more than 
three thousand in all were fed at his table. Many of 
them were clothed and shod, the sick were nursed, 
medical attendance was provided, and sometimes the 
stay of the slaves was prolonged to weeks and months. 
In all this time he never lost a passenger. It was 
generally known in the town in which he lived, as 
well as by many of the slaveholders, that he enter- 
tained the fugitives, and yet his house was never 
searched. He boldly declared that if they did search 



112 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

it, the law must be strictly followed, or the penalty 
would be vigorously enforced. 

His business relations gave him influence, and kept 
many in fear of his displeasure. For years a ladies' 
sewing society met weekly at his house, and made and 
repaired garments for men, women, and children. 
Often the fugitives arrived, after weeks of travel and 
exposure, while trying to make their way to freedom, 
led by the north star from some extreme Southern 
State, and losing their way on some dark nights when 
the friendly star was hidden. They dare not take a 
public highway, for fear of being seen by unfriendly - 
white men, so that, with wornout shoes, — if, indeed, 
they had any, — and with clothing torn and ragged 
from contact with briers, perhaps wounded by shot or 
bullets from their pursuers, or torn by the blood- 
hounds, wretched, suffering, and miserable, they ar- 
rived at the home of the " Good Samaritan." 

The Southern slaveholders had become too agrjrres- 
sive, in the pressure of their peculiar institution, upon 
the United States. The requirements made of North- 
ern citizens were more than they were willing to meet, 
and the breach between the Northern and Southern 
sections grew wider. John C. Calhoun and other 
Southern politicians taught their people that secession 
from the United States government was the right of 
the individual States, and such was the influence 
brought to bear, that when election came, it was al- 
most a " Solid South." When Abraham Lincoln was 
elected and the Southern candidate defeated, they were 
disappointed, and unwilling to abide the result ; hence 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 113 

the firing upon the United States flag at Fort Sum- 
ter. 

Civil war and the Emancipation Proclamation of 
Abraham Lincoln followed, freeing nearly four mil- 
lion slaves, many of whom hardly knew their right 
hand from the left. They were a vast company of 
homeless children, for even ' the oldest were but chil- 
dren in understanding. Yet now they were no longer 
under the care of interested owners, who had at least 
a pecuniary interest in them, and they became the ob- 
jects of the world's charity. 

Societies for their relief sprang up all over the 
Northern States, and soon became organized for the 
distribution of the gifts of a sympathetic people. 
Everything that must be used by individuals, by 
households, and by schools, was needed ; and it was 
wonderful how these things were supplied, Levi Cof- 
fin was a leader in this work, and visited the South a 
number of times to arrange for the free transportation 
of goods and the distribution of the gifts of the great 
West. 

He went to England in the interest of this labor of 
love, bearing with him letters from many prominent 
men in church and state, and readily gained access 
to the wealthy and generous people of that dear old 
country. A "London Freedmen's Relief Society" 
was formed, with prominent men of England as its 
officers. He worked under its auspices, and told to 
many large congregations the story of the wrongs, 
sufferings, and needs of this people. 

He visited Scotland, France, and many other parts 



114 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

of Europe in the interest of this cause, and most 
nobly did Europe respond to the appeal. Banks 
charged no commission, railroads no tariff, steamships 
no freight, and all seemed to do what they could to 
atone for the common sin toward this helpless people, 
who, no longer slaves, were in need of much training 
and education to fit them to become intelligent citi- 
zens, competent to cast a vote upon the affairs of the 
nation. 

Although the United States government gave 
them the elective franchise long before they were 
prepared for it, very many of them have set them- 
selves to work and are fast becoming competent for 
their new duties, notwithstanding adverse criticisms 
and unfavorable comments upon them. Certain it is 
that the colored schools and colleges of the Southern 
States, the rapid advancement of many of the freed 
people, the important positions some of them have 
filled and do now fill so well, and the steady acqui- 
sition of comparative wealth by many others, all go 
to show a wonderful development in a people who 
emerged from the barbarism of Africa, and then for 
generations were kept in bondage and ignorance. 

That they are capable of mastering much and are 
worthy of a higher position than to be under the lash, 
the following facts, gathered from different sources 
(presumably correct) furnish abundant proof : 

There is 13,500,000 taxable property now held by 
them in the Southern States. Since their freedom a 
former slave of Jefferson Davis has translated the 
Bible into the Sweetzer tongue, which is spoken by 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 115 

250,000 Africans. It was stated recently that there 
are 25,530 negro schools in the South, where 2,250,000 
negroes have learned to read, and most of them to 
write. In these colored schools there are 238,000 
j)upils and 20,000 negro teachers. There are 150 
schools for their advanced education, and seven col- 
leges are administered by negro presidents and facul- 
ties ; while of these jDresidents three were formerly 
slaves. There are 154 negro editors, 250 lawyers, 
740 physicians, and 247 negroes from the South who 
have been and now are educating themselves in Euro- 
pean universities. In addition to this, many churches 
have been formed among them, and thousands of 
colored men are engaged in the ministry. 

Where in the history of mankind has such a rapid 
development and advance been shown by any people 
in the space of thirty years ? 

Levi Coffin believed in the education of the colored 
race, and spent nearly " threescore years and ten " 
in their service, working in every way he could for 
their freedom and enlightenment. 

He has gone to his rest, having passed from works 
to rewards in the seventy -ninth year of his age, with 
his work well done. His funeral was attended by 
many of Cincinnati's best people, and the tears of 
both black and white indicated the place he held in 
the hearts of all classes. 

Rev. Dr. Rust, Secretary of the Freedmen's Aid 
Society, said : " It would take less bravery to go up 
to the cannon's mouth than to do the work he did. 
He walked through the streets hooted at and threat- 



116 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

ened by mobs, and the battle-field has scarcely such 
illustrations of heroism as he exhibited every day." 

The amount of work he accomplished without gun, 
pistol, or knife was much greater than that of John 
Faircliild, and greater than any one person could have 
done with weapons ; and the ultimate good to those 
for whom he labored was far beyond that of any one 
who trusted in his own wisdom for guidance and in 
fire-arms for defense. 

His life was the life of the righteous, his last days 
peaceful and happy, and his end triumphant. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Quaker of the olden time ! — 

How calm and firm and true, 
Unspotted by its wrong and crime, 

He walked the dark earth through. 
The lust of power, the love of gain. 

The thousand lures of sin 
Around him, had no power to stain 

The purity within. 

Whittieb. 

At the beginning of the war, most of the Friends 
in North Carolina were located in the central and 
northwestern parts of the State, in Iredell, Yakdin, 
Surrey, Davie, Guilford, Randolph, Alamance, and 
Chatham counties. There were, however, six small 
churches in Wayne, Northampton, and Perquimans 
counties, in the eastern part of the State, but the 
meetings were all so connected by sending reports 
from one meeting to another, by the attendance of 
delegates and members generally upon the services 
of the superior meetings, that they were more or 
less personally acquainted with each other all over 
the State, and to a certain extent with Friends in 
other States. 

It may not be out of place here to give our readers 
the order of church government of the Friends, that 
a clearer understanding may be had of the reason 



118 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

why Friends from the South generally knew where 
to o-o after crossin"- Mason and Dixon's line, and so 
readily found homes, friends, and business in the 
North and West. 

The Friends' business meetings of primary charac- 
ter are called " preparative meetings," and may be 
composed of one or more congregations or meetings 
for worship. These meetings are held on a week day, 
once a month. The business that pertains to the 
local meeting only may be settled here. Any busi- 
ness that may require the attention of a superior 
meeting is " prepared " and forwarded by the rep- 
resentatives, or delegates, appointed to attend the 
monthly meeting, which is usually held the following- 
week. 

This monthly meeting is composed of the members 
of one or more preparative meeting's (usually of 
more than one), and is a meeting of record. In some 
cases, where the monthly meeting is composed of only 
one meeting, the preparative is not held. If the busi- 
ness of these meetings is of a nature to claim the 
attention of a superior one, it is forwarded by dele- 
gates or the clerk to the monthly or quarterly meet- 
ing. The monthly meeting is a legally constituted 
body, with power to hold property through trustees. 
It appoints officers in the church, but forwards some 
of its appointments to superior meetings for their 
information and approval. 

The principal officers of the Friends' churches are 
elders and overseers, and both men and women are 
appointed to these stations. Men and women are 










DR. NEREUS MEXDENHALL 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 119 

acknowledged as ministers when they have given evi- 
dence of having been called by the Great Head of 
the Church to preach the Gospel. 

The ministers, elders, and overseers have the gen- 
eral oversight of the flock. Care is had that those 
appointed as elders shall be persons gifted with a 
discerning spirit and shall be so well versed in the 
Scriptures as to be able to judge wisely of the minis- 
try and exercise a degree of care over the ministers. 

TJie quarterly meetings are composed of two or 
more monthly meetings, and to it representatives are 
appointed by the monthly meetings. Answers to 
queries from the discipline of the society, pertaining 
to the life and conduct of the members of the 
monthly meetings represented, are read, and any 
other business which may have come from the 
monthly meetings, or has been otherwise properly 
introduced, is here considered. 

These quarterly meetings are of general interest, 
and usually last two or three days. On the first day 
there is a meeting for ministers, elders, and usually 
for the overseers also ; the next day a meeting for 
worship is held for all who wdll attend ; and follow- 
ing this is the quarterly meeting for business. 

All these meetings, except the first class, are open 
to all the members alike, with equal privileges of 
being heard upon any question. Instead of a presi- 
dent or chairman, the clerk serves as the officer of 
the meeting, and usually has an assistant to aid in 
reading or writing. He or she obtains the judgment 
of the meeting by the sentiment expressed ; not 



120 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

always by the majority of those who speak, but 
sometimes by taking into consideration the qualifica- 
tions of the speaker, his degree of experience and 
ability to judge. Should there be a decided diver- 
sity of ojDinion upon any subject, and any doubt in 
the clerk's mind as to a satisfactory conclusion, the 
matter is left over for consideration in a subsequent 
meeting. It is not customary in Friends' meetings to 
arrive at conclusions by vote, although it occasionally 
is done in some parts of the country. Concessions 
are often made in order to promote harmony. 

Should there be business that affects interests 
beyond those of the quarterly meeting, or of too 
great importance to decide, it is forwarded by dele- 
gates with minutes from the records to the yearly 
meeting. The quartei-ly meeting also forwards to 
the yearly meeting the j)reparative and monthly meet- 
ings' answers to the queries, in order that the yearly 
meeting may have an understanding of the general 
condition of the subordinate meeting's. 

These yearly meetings are of wide interest ; they 
are usually composed of thousands of members, and 
are held for about one week. Their decisions upon 
all questions that come before them are final. Some 
yearly meetings meet altogether in joint session of 
men and women, the women being represented at the 
clerk's table and having equal rights with the breth- 
ren. Other yearly meetings have separate sessions 
of men and women, and these send their conclusions 
to each other by messengers ; but the tendency of all 
the yearly meetings in America, except Philadelphia, 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 121 

is toward tlie plan of having one meeting of men and 
women, in whicli there is no respect of sex. 

Each yearly meeting has a standing representative 
committee composed of some of its most experi- 
enced members, to act for it during the recess of the 
yearly meeting. This committee meets five times in 
Philadelphia, twice a year at specified times in most 
of the yearly meetings and in some but once, but is 
subject to be called together by the clerk should any 
" suffering case " arise. Hence the name, " Meeting 
for Sufferings," applied to this meeting, though it is 
now called by most yearly meetings "the Kepre- 
sentative Meeting." To this meeting is referred the 
care of real estate, trust funds, and other matters 
which may be more fully discussed and easily settled 
by the smaller body than in the large yearly meet- 
ing. The proceedings are recorded and read in the 
yearly meeting, whose approval, when given, con- 
firms the acts of the representative meeting. 

Occasionally conferences have been held, consist- 
ing of representatives, including both men and 
women, from every Orthodox yearly meeting in the 
world. For days they meet and discuss questions of 
importance to the church in general, and recommen- 
dations are agreed upon to be submitted to the 
different yearly meetings. The conclusions of this 
conference, however, are not binding upon any of 
the yearly meetings, except such as by their own 
actions choose to make them so. The deliberations of 
the conference are carefully recorded, and printed 
volumes of them are sent to the meetings and to 



122 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

many of the active members, so that all may be 
informed of the subjects considered, of the addresses 
given, and the conclusions reached. 

The yearly meetings (Orthodox) now number, 
with Philadelphia, thirteen in the United States, one 
in Canada, one in England, and one in Ireland, with 
half-yearly and quarterly meetings in Australia and 
many other parts of the world. 

These meetings, except Philadeli)hia, are connected 
by a chain of correspondence in the form of annual 
epistles, addressed by each to all the others and to 
London Yearly Meeting, We see by this digression 
the relation of the members to each other, and also 
that a Friend is in touch with his brethren the world 
over. There has ever existed such a bond of union 
and sympathy between them that a member of the 
Friends' Church is at once recognized by his fellow- 
members as a person worthy of credit and of assist- 
ance if necessary. 

Friends in the South were, during the Civil War, 
only divided from their Northern brethren by geo- 
graphical lines and military law. Having crossed 
Mason and Dixon's line, they had only to find a com- 
munity of Friends to find a home and all things need- 
f id. Especially welcome were they in the West, for 
many living there, or their ancestry, had moved from 
the South on account of slavery. In many cases they 
were related to those fleeing on account of war, and 
cordially welcomed them to their homes. South Caro- 
lina seceded from the Union December 20, 1860, and 
Virginia promptly followed on April 18, 1861. North 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 123 

Carolina, tliougli geographically situated between the 
two, was loyal to the Union by a large majority. One 
county, Randolph, which had within it a strong Quaker 
element, gave only forty-five votes for secession and 
2570 against it. 

At first the people freely expressed their opposition 
to secession, but speakers from South Carolina and 
elsewhere were sent through the State, from her 
mountains to seaboard, appealing to the people, " in 
view of their best interests," to secede. It was stated 
that her sister States, Virginia and South Carolina, 
had gone out, and that if North Carolina refused to 
do so they would make her soil their fighting ground 
and compel her to secede. In fact, they declared that 
there was no alternative, she must secede. Taken at 
so great a disadvantage, wifli uneasy slaveholders and 
politicians urgently pressing their demands. Governor 
Ellis finally declared North Carolina seceded from the 
Union, May 20, 1861, and the " Old North State," the 
first in a declaration of independence of British rule, 
was now almost compelled to join in a secession from 
the United States. . 

Among all her citizens not a Friend was found to 
vote for secession. They had already emancijDated 
their slaves, they were loyal to the principles of peace, 
and they most firmly believed in " Union forever." 

In the twelfth month of this year, 1861, there was 
presented to the legislature of North Carolina an act 
called " an ordinance concerning test oaths and sedi- 
tion," by which every free male person in the State, 
above sixteen years of age, was required to appear 



124 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

publicly and renounce all allegiance to the government 
of the United States, and also to agree to support, 
maintain and defend the independent government of 
the Confederate States. The alternative was ban- 
ishment within thirty days. 

The reader will at once see the peculiar bearing of 
this statute upon Friends within the State. They 
were opposed to slaveiy and war, they had been loyal 
to the United States, and had voted against secession, 
and they had no unity with a new government which 
they believed would perpetuate slavery. Allen U. 
Tomlinson and Isham Cox sjjent much time in labor- 
ing with the members of this legislature, showing 
them the effect of such a law upon their people. 
When the bill finally came to a hearing, the Honor- 
able William A. Graham of Orange County, N. C, 
and Eugene Grissom of Raleigh, members of the 
legislature, took up their cause. They were acquainted 
with many Friends, and respected them, and they 
were informed of the principles of Friends on these 
subjects. When the bill came before the House, 
they made able speeches opposing its passage, in 
which Governor AYilliam Graham said : " It would 
amount to a decree of wholesale expatriation of the 
Quakers, and on the expulsion of such a people from 
our midst the whole civilized world would cry 
' shame.' " 

North Carolina Yearly Meeting records say that 
" The act fell to the ground, but not so the hostility 
that was capable of suggesting it. In the excitement 
that now prevailed throughout the State, in the effort 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 125 

to promote volunteering, Friends were in various ways 
exposed to much anxiety. Many left the State, 
though every means was now used to prevent this, 
and several parties of emigrants were arrested and 
brought back. A few Friends were occasionally 
included in the military drafts, but obtained their 
release upon various grounds without much difficulty. 
It was not until the summer of 1862 that the great 
and general trial came. 

" By the passage of a conscription act in the Con- 
federate Congress, in the seventh month of this year, 
every man between eighteen and thirty-five years of 
age was required to enter the army. This act was 
amended as early as 1863, and made to include all 
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. In 1864, 
all between seventeen and fifty were included. Finally 
all males from sixteen to sixty were enrolled ; four- 
teen-year-old boys and men over sixty were sometimes 
used for home guards. 

" In the fourth month, 1862, Friends petitioned 
both the State assembly and the Confederate Con- 
gress for relief. The State government first passed 
an act of exemption, releasing them from State mili- 
tary duty upon the payment of $100 each ; and on the 
eleventh of tenth month a similar bill was passed by 
the Congress at Richmond, which exempted all who 
were members with Friends at that time, upon the 
payment of $500. 

" Unlike our Friends in the Northern States, it was 
not on the few that the trial came, but on the many, 
and in another more important respect our position 



126 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

differed widely from theirs. In our own case, the 
existing government and the officers who executed its 
will were far from having sympathy with us. We 
were still loyal at heart to the government of the 
United States, and though submitting passively to a 
temporary usurpation, this was little merit in a com- 
munity that called for the utmost zeal in the new 
cause. We testified against slavery, and in the fresh 
effort to establish it firmly, this was no small offense. 
Above all, we could not fight, and with the spirit of 
war so rampant in our midst that the preaching of 
the Gospel of Peace gave way in almost every place 
of worship to a call to arms, the hatred and malice 
aroused fell with much violence upon us." 

•The members of the committee of Friends ap- 
pointed to visit the Confederate Congress were Isham 
Cox, John B. Crenshaw, Nereus Mendenhall, John 
Carter, and Allen U. Tomlinson, men of ability and 
of good standing in their respective commimities, and 
well known as Friends in all the country, John B. 
Crenshaw, a minister, living in Richmond, Va., was 
personally acquainted with many leading men of the 
Confederate government. Nereus Mendenhall was 
well known as one of the most learned men in North 
Carolina, and was a prominent educator. Isham Cox, 
a minister, and for many years a leader in the yearly 
meeting, was well known and esteemed in the church 
and country. John Carter was a prominent business 
man, as was Allen U. Tomlinson. 

These five proceeded to the Confederate Congress 
as representatives of the Friends, to enter their protest 




JOHN CARTER 





ISHAM COX 



JOHN H. ( RHXSIIAW 



i^' *^. 




ALLEN U. TOMLINSON 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 127 

against these unrighteous laws, and to plead for the 
relief of their brethren. 

Speaking of the occasion, John B. Crenshaw said : 
" It being a warm summer night, the meeting was 
arranged for the evening, and we were requested to 
have seats out on the Capitol grounds to avoid the 
heat from the lights inside the Capitol building. The 
committee was comjDosed of some of the ablest men in 
the Confederate Congress, most of them men who had 
served in the Congress of the United States. Mr. 
Miles, of South Carolina, was chairman. It was the 
feelintr of the delegates that Nereus Mendenhall was 
preeminently the man to present our case. It seemed 
impossible, almost, to secure his consent, owing to his 
natural reserve. Finally, Chairman Miles said : 
V^ ' Gentlemen, the committee is ready. Please state 

your case.' A dead silence followed. In a few min- 
utes, fearing the committee would not understand 
or appreciate our holding a silent Quaker meeting 
then and there, I reached over and gently touched 
Nereus. He arose slowly, and when fully aroused 
and warmed up to his subject I thought I never heard 
such an exposition of the doctrines of Friends on the 
subject of war. Other members of the delegation 
followed, but the ground had been covered so 
thoroughly that there was little left for us to say." 

This same delegation visited Jefferson Davis, and 
while he received them with courtesy, he remarked 
that he regretted to learn that there was within the 
limits of the Southern Confederacy a body of people 
unwilling not only to fight, but if needful to die in 
defense of their country. 



128 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The result of the labors of this delegation was the 
passage of a law exempting Friends and Dunkards 
from service in the Confederate army upon the pay- 
ment of $500, or upon the performance of certain 
services in connection with hospitals, etc. To Nereus 
Mendenhall's argument, perhaps more than any other 
one thing, was due the passage of this law. 

One of the committee said to this delegation of 
Friends : " Doubtless your peoj^le are in the Northern 
army fighting us, and why should you not join us in 
fighting them ? " To this Isham Cox replied : " I am 
not afraid to agree to fight, single handed, every true 
Friend in the Northern army." Such was his confi- 
dence in the adherence of his Northern brethren to 
the principles of non-resistance, that he had no idea 
of a true Friend's being in the army, and he was care- 
ful to use the word true. Some members there were, 
however, whose education against slavery had been so 
much more thorough than their education against 
war, that they thought themselves justified in going 
to war for the abolition of slavery. These, as a rule, 
were promptly diso^vned by their meetings, in whose 
judgment, however desirable it might be to abolish 
slavery, war was contrary to the commands of Christ. 
They judged that we should not do evil that good may 
come, and that a man could not be a true Friend and 
go to war. 

It may be well in this connection to take a look at 
the situation in which Friends in the Northern States 
were placed. In the government were many who were 
familiar with the views of Fi*iends, and who knew 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 129 

them to be unyielding in their testimony to the prin- 
ciples of " peace on earth, good-will to men." 

Abraham Lincoln, himself a descendant of Friends 
and acquainted with their religious views, was always 
ready to receive them when they came to him on any 
account, saying : "I know they are not seeking an 
office." Secretary Stanton's mother was a minister 
among Friends, and lived in Ohio during the war. 
Attorney-General Bates and Salmon P. Chase were 
also said to have been connected with Friends ; and 
H. W. Halleck, at one time General-in-chief of the 
armies, remained a member of the meeting at New- 
port, Rhode Island, during the war, by an oversight 
caused by his removal to the West. Lincoln's cabinet 
was called " the Quaker War Cabinet," and they were 
very lenient to Friends who were opposed to fighting 
on conscientious grounds. 

Abraham Lincoln was visited by a delegation of 
Friends in the early days of the war. He and many 
members of the Cabinet so sympathized with them in 
their trying position that they were exempted from 
the first draft, but the Senate and House of Represent 
tatives of the United States, judging it unjust to 
others, would not permit this to be continued, al- 
though memorialized on the subject by the Baltimore 
Friends. 

Secretary Stanton advised the Friends, in view of 
the large draft of men anticipated, to hold a general 
conference of all their yearly meeting committees to 
consider a proposition from him which, he believed, 
would satisfy them and relieve him and the govern- 



130 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

ment. He proposed to create a siDecial fund for the 
benefit of the colored refugees, and to exempt drafted 
Friends from military service upon the payment of 
$300 into this fund, said payment not to be, as in 
other cases, to the district provost-marshal, but to his 
fiscal agent at Washington, to be credited to the col- 
ored people, and that Friends should have the dis- 
bursement of it through their own agents and labor- 
ers, lie expressed deep interest in the matter, and 
was willing to accept this as the only legal mode in 
his power for their relief. 

This conference of the committees of the yearly 
meetings was held in Baltimore. They sent a delega- 
tion to Washington during the session of Congress. 
This delegation succeeded in having Congress engraft 
in the enrollment bill a clause very much like the 
proposition of Secretary Stanton, declaring Friends 
to be non-combatants, and assigning those who might 
be drafted to hospital or freedmen's service, or ex- 
empting them from all active military service upon 
the payment of t|300 into a fund for the relief of 
the sick and wounded. In the June following, the 
bill was materially amended and this clause was 
stricken out, but it was restored before the final pas- 
sage of the bill. The Friends felt confident of the 
good feeling of Congress toward them, and that un- 
conditional exemption would have been granted them, 
but for the fear of serious embarrassment to the gov- 
ernment. Among the papers of Francis T. King the 
following accoimt of this matter has been found, and 
is interesting in this connection : 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 131 

" At a meeting of tlie committees of the represen- 
tative meetings of New York, New England, Ohio, 
Indiana, Western, and Baltimore, in conference at 
Baltimore 12th month 7 th, 1863, twenty-five persons 
were present. After a time of waiting upon the Lord, 
they organized and passed unanimously the following 
minute : 

" ' We believe it right for us first to record our 
united sense and judgment that Friends continue to be 
solemnly bound unswervingly to maintain our ancient 
faith and belief that war is forbidden in the Gospel ; 
and that as followers of the Prince of Peace we can- 
not contribute to its support or in any way participate 
in its spirit ; that to render other service as an equiva- 
lent for, or in lieu of, requisitions for military pur- 
poses is a compromise of a vital principle which we 
feel conscientiously bound to support under all cir- 
cumstances, and notwithstanding any trials to which 
we may be subjected. 

" ' We greatly appreciate the kindness evidenced at 
all times by the President and the Secretary of War, 
when we have applied to them for relief from suffer- 
ing for conscience' sake, and honor them for their 
clearly manifest regard for religious liberty.' " 

After speaking of civil government as a divine ordi- 
nance, they close their minutes by saying : " Friends 
can discharge the duties of good citizenship without 
infringing upon their principles of peace, and we de- 
sire to impress upon them the duty of embracing 
every right opportunity for the exercise of Christian 
benevolence toward their sufferino- fellow-creatures." 



132 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

A committee of three Frientls, one each from New 
England, Indiana, and Baltimore, was appointed to go 
to Washington without delay and confer with the Sec- 
retary of War upon his proposition to exempt Friends 
from military service. The interview was readily ob- 
tained, and the committee heard his proposition, to 
grant relief by the payment of a sum which would go 
to the aid of the freedmen. He stated his views ably 
and cogently, and while he showed great courtesy and 
kindness, he also manifested much firmness and 
decision. 

Eliza P. Gurney of Burlington, N. J., the widow of 
Joseph John Gurney, was a Friend minister of deep 
spirituality, refined tastes, and much ability. Her 
sympathies were enlisted for Abraham Lincoln dur- 
ing the dark days of the war, and she felt constrained 
in the love of the Gosjiel to visit him. It was on a 
rainy morning of the first day of the week in 1862, 
that she and her friends were introduced into the pri- 
vate apartments of the President, who received them 
very cordially. John M. Whitall, of Philadelphia, 
one of the party says : " It was a time not soon to 
be forgotten. I cannot possibly describe the scene; 
the solemnity of the silence, and the impressive 
address of our friend, during which the tears ran 
down tlie cheeks of our honored President. During 
the earnest prayer for the nation and himself, he 
seemed much affected, and as we arose to go he re- 
tained the hand of Eliza P. Gurney and made a most 
beautiful response to what had been said. This re- 
sj^onse began and ended with the words, ' I am glad 
of this interview.' " 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 133 

More tlian a year after, Abraham Lincoln sent 
Eliza P. Gurney a request to write him a letter, 
which she did, and so highly did he prize that letter, 
that it was found in his breast pocket at the time of 
the fatal shot of J. Wilkes Booth, nearly two years 
afterwards. Below is a copy of the letter : 

" Eaklham Lodge, S/IS, 1863, 

"To THE President of the United States. 

" Esteemed friend, Abraham Lincoln : Many 
times, since I was privileged to have an interview with 
thee nearly a year ago, my mind has turned toward 
thee with feelings of sincere and Christian interest ; 
and as our friend Isaac Newton offers to be the 
bearer of a paper messenger, I feel inclined to give 
thee the assurance of my continued hearty sympathy 
in all thy heavy burthens and responsibilities, and to 
express not only my own earnest prayer, but, I be- 
lieve, the prayer of many thousands whose hearts 
thou hast gladdened by thy praiseworthy and success- 
ful efforts ' to burst the bands of wickedness, and let 
the oppressed go free,' that the Almighty Ruler of the 
universe may strengthen thee to accomplish all the 
blessed purposes which in the unerring council of His 
will and wisdom, I do assuredly believe He did de- 
sign to make thee instrumental in accomplishing when 
He appointed thee thy present post of vast responsi- 
bility, as the Chief Magistrate of this great nation. 

" Many ai-e the trials incident to such positions, and 
I verily believe thy conflicts and anxieties have not 
been few. May the Loi-d ' hear thee in this day of 
trouble, the name of the God of J>acob defend thee, send 



134 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

thee help from liis sanctuary, and strengthen thee out 
of Zion.' The Lord fulfil thy petitions that are put 
up in the name of the Prince of Peace, of the increase 
of whose government and peace there shall never be 
an end. 

" I can hardly refrain f I'om expressing my cordial 
approval of thy late excellent proclamation appointing 
a day of thanksgiving for the sparing and preserving 
mercies, which in the tender loving-kindness of our 
God and Saviour have been so bountifully showered 
upon us ; for though, as a religious people, we do 
not set apart especial seasons for returning thanks, 
either for spiritual or temporal blessings, yet, as I 
humbly trust, our hearts are filled with gratitude to 
our Almighty Father that His delivering arm of love 
and power has been so manifestly round about us ; 
and I rejoice in the decided recognition of an all-wise 
and sujierintcnding Providence, which is so marked a 
feature in the aforesaid document, as well as the im- 
mediate influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit, 
which perhaps never in any previous state paper has 
been so fully recognized before. 

"Especially did my inmost heart respond to thy 
desire ' that the angry feeling which has so long sus- 
tained this needless and cruel war may be subdued, 
and the hearts of the insurgents changed, and the 
whole nation be led through paths of repentance and 
submission to the divine will, back to the perfect en- 
joyment of union and fraternal peace.' May the Lord 
in his infinite compassion hasten the day. 

" I will not occupy thy time unduly, but, in a feel- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 135 

ing of true Christian sympathy aud Gospel love, com- 
mend thee and thy wife and your two dear children 
to the preserving care of the unslumbering Shepherd, 
who, in his matchless mercy, gave his life for the 
sheep, who is alone able to keep us from falling, and 
finally, when done with the unsatisfying things of 
mutability, to give us an everlasting inheritance 
among all them that are sanctified through the Eter- 
nal Spirit of God. 

" Resj)ectfully and sincerely, thy assured friend, 

"Eliza P. Gueney." 

During the next year President Lincoln sent to 

Eliza P. Gurney the following acknowledgment of 

her visit and letter : 

Executive Mansion, 
" Washington, September 4, 1864. 

"To Eliza P. Gurney. 

" My Esteemed Friend : I have not forgotten — 
probably never shall forget — the very impressive 
occasion when yourself and friends visited me on a 
Sabbath afternoon two years ago. Nor has your kind 
letter, written nearly a year later, even been forgot- 
ten. In all it has been your purpose to strengthen 
my reliance upon God. I am much indebted to the 
good Christian people of the country for their con- 
stant prayers and consolations, and to no one of them 
more than to yourself. 

" The purposes of the Ahnighty are perfect and must 
prevail, though we erring mortals may fail to accu- 
rately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a 
happy termination of this terrible war long before 



136 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

this, but God knows best and has ruled otherwise. 
We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own 
error therein, and meanwhile we must work earnestly 
in tlie best light He gives us, trusting that so working 
still conduces to the great ends He ordains. Surely 
He intends some great good to follow this mighty 
convulsion, which no mortal could make and no mor- 
tal could stay. 

"Your people, the Friends, have had and are having 
a very great trial. On principle and faith, opposed 
to both war and oppression, they can only practically 
oppose oppression by war. In this dilemma some 
have chosen one horn of the dilemma, and some the 
other. For those appealing to me on conscientious 
grounds I have done, and shall do, what I could and 
can, in my own conscience under my oath to the law. 
That you believe this I doubt not, and believing it, I 
shall stiU receive for our country and myself your 
earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven. 

"Your sincere friend, 
" A. Lincoln." 

This promise Abraham Lincoln faithfully kept, 
and the Northern Friends had no just grounds for 
complaint. The three hundred dollars was accepted 
for hospital supplies, hospital service was furnished, 
and where any conscience was not free to accept either 
or it seemed inexpedient, they were "paroled until 
called for, and^ were never called for." Many 
Friends, however, volunteered to nurse the sick and 
wounded, and some even went upon the battlefields 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 137 

in this mission, and ministered to those of both 
armies, in Christ's name. 

Many a poor soklier boy died the happier because 
of these loving ministrations. One instance may be 
inserted here, owing to the connection it has with 
" him whom the workl deHghts to honor," showing as 
it does his true Christian spirit. Elizabeth L. Corn- 
stock, well known throughout this country and Eng- 
land as a minister among Friends, spent much time in 
the name of her Master in visiting the hospitals and 
army prisons during the war. It was a loving ser- 
vice, rendered without recompense from government, 
state, or church. Much liberty was granted her by 
the officers, as her visits were hailed by the suffering 
boys with delight. Even Mosby, the guerrilla chief, 
at one time gave her an escort of his men, when she 
was on an errand of love. 

Some army chaplains, of more seK-importance per- 
haps than piety, had refused to admit her to pray 
with the soldier boys in one of the army hospitals. 
Elizabeth was not accustomed to being thwarted in 
any mission she undertook in the name of her Lord, 
so she immediately proceeded to the White House. 
Abraham Lincoln was not a stranger to her, nor she 
to him. He heard her story, and immediately, seat- 
ing himself at the desk near at hand, he wrote : 

" Give Mrs. Comstock access to all hospitals, and 
to all inmates with whom she desires to hold religious 
services. 

"A. Lincoln." 



138 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Handing it to her he said: " Now, Mrs. Comstock, 
I want you to pray with me." They knelt together, 
and as, with folded hands and closed eyes, she looked 
up to the All-wise Father, she felt laid upon hers the 
hand of one of the greatest, and yet one of the most 
humble men who ever called God his Father. 

As she fervently prayed for the country and its 
President, pouring out her whole soul to God for him, 
she felt his hand trembling like a leaf as it lay upon 
her own. As they rose from their knees he thanked 
her, saying : " I feel helped and strengthened by your 
prayers." She went her way to pray with the sick 
and dying soldiers. 

Three days after, Abraham Lincoln's work for suf- 
fering humanity was over. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The levelled gun, the battle brand, 

We may not take ; 

But, calmly loyal, we can stand 

And suffer with our suffering land 

For conscience' sake. 

Whittier. 

We have learned that the appeal to the Confederate 
Congress was so far considered by that body as to re- 
sult in the passage of an act exempting Friends from 
military service, if they were at that time members 
of the Friends' church, upon the payment of five 
hundred dollars each. The following is a copy of the 
act : 

" LAWS EELATING TO NON-COMBATANTS." 

" Orders from the Adjutant and Inspector General's 
oface, 1862. Sec. VII. — Friends, Dunkards, Naza- 
renes, and Mennonites. — All persons of the above 
denominations, in regular membership therein on the 
11th day of October, 1862, shall be exempt from en- 
rollment on furnishing a substitute, or on presenting 
to the enrolling officer a receipt from a bonded quar- 
termaster for the tax of five hundred dollars imposed 
by act of Congress, and an affidavit by the bishop, 
presiding elder or other officer whose duty it is to pre- 
serve the records of membership in the denomination 



140 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

to which the party belongs, setting forth distinctly the 
fact that the party, on the 11th day of October, 1862, 
was in regular membership with such denomination. 
The affidavit must be taken and certified before a jus- 
tice of the peace or other officer appointed by the law 
of his State to administer oaths, and his authority to 
administer oaths must be certified by the clerk of a 
court of record, under the seal of the court. 

" All assistant-quartermasters to whom the said tax 
is tendered will receipt for it, and pay the same into 
the treasury of the Confederate States without un- 
reasonable delay. The enrolling officer will receive 
the receipt and forward it to the commandant of con- 
scripts, by whom it will be forwarded to the quarter- 
masfer-general, who will charge the assistant - quar- 
termaster with the amount received by him." 

The first meeting of North Carolina Yearly Meet- 
ing of Friends, following the passage of this bill, was 
held at New Garden, Guilford County, in 1862. It 
took this subject into consideration and made the fol- 
lowing minute expressing its united judgment: 

" We have had the subject under serious consider- 
ation, and while in accordance with our last yearly 
meeting we do pay all taxes imposed on us as citizens 
and property-holders in common with other citizens, 
remembering the injunction, 'tribute to whom tri- 
bute is due, custom to whom custom,' yet we cannot 
conscientiously pay the specified tax, it being imposed 
upon us on account of our principles, as the price ex- 
acted of us for religious liberty. Yet we do appre- 
ciate the good intentions of those members of Con- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 141 

gress who had it iu their hearts to do something for 
our relief ; and we recommend that those parents who 
have, moved by sympathy, or those young men who, 
dreading the evils of a military camp, availed them- 
selves of this law, shall be treated in a tender manner 
by their monthly meetings." 

Notwithstanding this declaration of the yearly meet- 
ing, many of the members did, sooner or later, pay 
the exemption tax ; and the yearly meeting, having 
officially cleared itself of responsibility, was not dis- 
posed to censure those who felt freedom of conscience 
so to do. 

We may recognize how great a temptation it was 
thus to purchase freedom from prison and severe suf- 
fering, when we consider that, on account of the de- 
preciation in the value of Confederate money, the tax 
demanded was finally not more than the price of a 
barrel of flour or even of a pair of boots. There 
were, however, many Friends who would not purchase 
their liberty, even at so small a cost. Their con- 
sciences were unyielding, and rather than disobey what 
they understood to be God's command to them, they 
chose to suffer persecution, yea, death itself. 

Upon these, therefore, and upon those who joined 
Friends' meetings after the exemption act was jjassed 
the trial came most severely ; and the test to which 
the principles of Friends were put in this particular 
exceeded in severity any ever known, — even that of 
the great Irish rebellion in 1684, during which the 
lives of only two Friends were taken, and they had 
sacrificed their principles and resorted to arms. 



142 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

When the news of the first conscription act passed 
by the North Carolina legislature reached the Friends, 
there was not a little anxiety among them, for they 
knew that a trial of their faith was at hand, and it is 
no wonder if there was much questioning as to what it 
was really best to do. Many who coidd do so imme- 
diately left their homes for the West. They crossed 
the mountains in small parties, or in some instances 
alone. But the authorities soon discovered this mi- 
gration, and instead of banishing the Friends who 
stood steadfast to their principles, as had before been 
threatened, they took prompt measures to prevent 
them from leaving home and sent soldiers in pursuit 
of those who had already gone. Several parties were 
thus arrested and brought back. Many hardships 
were undergone by those who endeavored to make 
their way westward across mountains and streams and 
through forests. They avoided as much as possible 
the sight of unfriendly man, and lived for days, weeks, 
and even months in caves near some good Samaritan's, 
who brought food for their sustenance and informed 
them when it was safe to proceed on their way. The 
writer has listened to many thrilling accounts of such 
journeys, as he has sat by the large open fire in the 
homes of some of these people, in days of peace, when 
the dark war cloud had rolled away and there was no 
more fear of the face of man. But the recollections 
of those sad days are so unpleasant that it is with 
difficulty that these people can be induced to write or 
tell of their experiences. They say they wish to for- 
get them, and it is an evidence of a Christian spirit 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 143 

that tliey never speak with feelings of bitterness or 
hatred toward those who hunted and persecuted them. 

As has been said, the Friends hardly knew at first 
what to do. In its records, North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting says : " There was naturally for a time some 
unsettlement and much uncertainty ; but very soon, 
we believe, there was experienced a deeper ' rooting 
for the storm,' and those whose faith was really over- 
thrown were few indeed." 

It was not only Friends but many others who were 
hiding in the woods and caves of the earth, who, from 
loyalty to the United States government or other 
causes, were unwilling to go into the Southern army. 
This fact very soon led to the formation of companies 
of " home guards," whose business it was to search 
for, arrest and send to the army all men of legal age 
who could not produce exemption papers ; so that 
wherever such men went it was necessary to have the 
papers with them, and Friends were often arrested 
and caused much inconvenience by neglecting to se- 
cure exemption papers and carry them with them. 

Many very good people have said that the spirit of 
the martyrs no longer exists in the Christian church ; 
but the spirit of our early days and a willingness to 
suffer for Christ's sake do still live and only need a 
suitable occasion to be drawn out. The occasion was 
offered in those days and the proof was abundant, not 
only that men and women were willing to suffer even 
unto death, for their principles, but that " Our God is 
faithful." In the experience of those Friends, and of 
others who were conscientious in their position in 



144 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

favor of peace, not only did He support them by his 
presence and power, but not one of all those who 
steadily refused to bear arms was permitted to come 
to a violent death. 

Before entering upon the record of individual cases 
of suffering for the jsrinciples of peace, it is best to re- 
mind the reader that the other Christian bodies re- 
ferred to in the foregoing act of the Confederate Con- 
gress were each very few in number. As we have 
learned, the Friends had become much reduced in 
numbers by emigration, and those who were left 
were largely residents of rural districts, and took little 
part in public affairs ; consequently the people in 
general and the officers of the Government and of the 
army knew very little of the grounds of their faith or 
of the cause of their unwillingness to fight for their 
country. Being ignorant of this, the people were im- 
prepared to enter into sympathy with them, and often 
misjudging their motives, were more severe in their 
treatment of the Friends than they otherwise would 
have been. 

In recording these facts the writer wishes to be un- 
derstood as doing simply the duty of a historian, with- 
out prejudice or coloring of facts. He knows well 
that there were many good men in the South who did 
not approve of the severe treatment of non-combat- 
ants, but were often powerless to prevent it. As an 
instance of this, we gladly give place to the following 
letter from the governor of North Carolina, wlio was 
of Nantucket Quaker descent : 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 145 

" Raleigh, November 3, 1864. 

"John B. Crenshaw, — Yours of the 29tli ult. was 
received by yesterday's mail, but the numbers of the 
' Southern Friend,' which you said you would mail to 
me, containing the law touching such cases as those in 
relation to which I wrote you, have not come to hand. 
I regret it, as I would gladly excuse from war all 
whom I may believe conscientious in their scruples 
against bearing arms ; and my duties, public and pri- 
vate, have been so pressing that I have neglected to 
keep properly posted. 

" I learn since I wrote you that Ahijah Macon died 
in or near Richmond, and that his body was sent 
home for interment a few days ago. From what I 
know of his father and mother, I do not doubt that 
the young man was sincere in his religious professions, 
and that he died adhering to them. I pray that harsh 
treatment may not have accelerated his death. 

" Since I wrote you, I accidentally saw the report 
of the county enrolling officer, recommending the rev- 
ocation of Charles Macon's certificate. I have no 
doubt it has been forwarded ere this to the Secretary 
of War, or arbitrarily revoked by some unfeeling sub- 
ordinate. I believe him to be a good young man, 
and hope, from the fact stated in your letter (that 
there is no power to revoke certificates granted prior 
to the law of 1864), that he may be relieved. He has 
other brothers in the same situation. I would will- 
ingly aid him if I knew how to act ; and in this or in 
any other meritorious case will gladly cooperate with 
you in what I believe to be your truly Christian efforts 



14G SOUTHERN HEROES. 

to relieve tlie oppressed. Those from whom you have 
derived your information in rehitiou to my views and 
feelings on this subject, have not misconceived them. 

"• The rejiort of the enrolling officer to which I re- 
fer rests entirely upon hearsay from persons enter- 
taining malignant feelings ; and not even this hearsay 
imputes to the young man any conduct, since the date 
of his certificate, inconsistent with his religious pro- 
fession. It rests solely upon the ground that he left 
the county, or concealed himself, to evade the draft, 
before he joined the Quakers, and the general decla- 
ration that his whole family is ' disloyal.' 

" Yours very respectfully, 

"Jonathan Worth." 

Jesse Buckner, of Chatham County, N. C, is said 
by Ilimelius Ilockctt to have been " a man of zeal and 
earnest, good motives." At the beginning of the war 
he was a Baptist, and a colonel in the militia. He 
had never given the principles of peace much consid- 
eration, and, like many others, thoughtlessly partook 
of the spirit around him. The position which he 
occupied was one of prominence, and gave him an 
opportunity to do miich for the promotion of the war. 
He began very early to raise volunteer companies, and 
was surprised to find that no Friends would volunteer 
or join in any military parade. Their refusal to do 
so led him to examine tlie doctrines which they held, 
and he was brought to sympathize with them so far as 
to hesitate to order the captains of his different com- 
panies to enroll Friends. This doubtless stirred up a 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 147 

feeling of dissatisfaction on the part of others, and in 
the fall of 1861 he was superseded in office by an am- 
bitious and less scrupulous neighbor. The conviction 
grew upon him that war is contrary to the Gospel, and 
that to slay one's fellowman is a sin. 

One dark night as he was going to attend a politi- 
cal meeting, he lost his way, for that district of the 
country is heavily covered with forests, and in some 
parts the road passes for miles through woods, with 
no house in sight. The position of the Friends, and 
the unrighteousness of war, were the subjects of his 
thoughts, and much of the time pressed upon him. 
He came to a " big road," and crossed it to the steps 
of a building, which he soon discovered was the 
Friends' meeting-house at Spring. He seated himself 
to rest, and he states that there, alone in the darkness 
of the night, meditating upon Friends' principles, the 
serious condition of the country, and the awfulness of 
war, he became satisfied that it was his duty to unite 
himself with the people who worshiped in that house. 
This he resolved to do, but delayed for a time. 

On the 6th of March, 1862, he was drafted, but re- 
solved that he would not fight ; he " bushwhacked," 
that is, he left his home and lived as best he could in 
caves, woods, and bushes. After " lying out " in this 
manner for five months, principally in an adjoining 
county, longing for knowledge of home and the loved 
ones there, he ventured to return, and was for some 
time unmolested. He applied to be admitted into 
membership with Spring meeting. He was received, 
and, as the law had been passed exempting Friends 



148 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

from service upon payment of $500, he thouglit that 
by paying this sum he would be relieved from any 
further demands for military service. The money was 
accepted, and he received his exemption papers ; but 
his decided course had aroused the enmity of some of 
his neighbors, who thought that he should no more be 
excused than they. His presence in their midst was 
a continual cause of jealousy, and it resulted in a 
strong determination to have him conscripted. 

Early in the next year his exemption papers were 
declared void by a sub-officer, he was arrested and 
sent to Camp Holmes, near Kaleigh, and then on to 
Wilmington, where he suffered much abuse. But the 
spirit of the Lord Jesus had been given him, and he 
had learned to obey the injmiction, " I say unto you, 
resist not evil." Meeldy he endured persecution, and 
as on one occasion a man struck him, he actually 
turned the other cheek to be struck also ; but the sol- 
dier's heart was not equal to giving a second blow. 

Friends did all they could to have him released. 
Petitions were sent to the authorities on his behalf, 
but without avail, and when he found that this course 
was hopeless he concluded that if an opportunity 
occurred he would avail himself of it and make his 
escape. This he soon did, and started on a journey of 
a hundred and seventy-five miles to his home, which, 
after much suffering from exposure, hunger, weari- 
ness and anxiety, he finally reached, foot-sore and ex- 
hausted. He was welcomed by his family, but with 
fear and trembling. He was allowed only one night 
of rest and rejoicing with them, for the vigilant eye 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 149 

of the " home guard " had seen him, and early in the 
morning he was captured and taken back to Wil- 
mington, where his treatment was more severe than 
before. 

Under the conviction that he had made a mistake 
in endeavoring to escape, he became even more hum- 
ble and resigned to his fate, whatever it might be, and 
submitted with wonderful meekness to the indignities 
and abuse of the soldiers. Before long he was taken 
very sick, and the officer, fearing he would not live, 
and wishing to be rid of him, procured his discharge 
and sent him home. 

But Jesse Buckner was not to be freed, either by 
sickness or death, from bearing his testimony to the 
Prince of Peace. Others were watching for his recov- 
ery besides the anxious Friends around his bedside. 
A deep-seated enmity and determination to let nothing 
but death rob them of their full satisfaction seemed 
to have possessed the minds of some of his neighbors, 
who had resolved that he shoidd be kejDt in the army. 
As soon as he was able to walk, he was again con- 
scripted and taken to jail, where he was kept a week, 
and then taken from camp to camp as a prisoner. At 
each new place the trying experiences were repeated, 
from the attempt to force him to bear arms; but amid 
sneers and taunts and cruel treatment, he persevered. 
When the officers and men came to understand the 
grounds of his objections, many treated him kindly. 

For nearly three long years, — the last the most 
severe, — Jesse Buckner endured privations, peril and 
hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, being 



150 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

driven from place to place, from camp to camp, often 
at the point of the bayonet, because he had acknow- 
ledged liimseK to be a soldier whose weapons were not 
carnal. Putting his trust in the Captain of his Sal- 
vation, he held out faithfully until Sherman demanded 
the surrender of Johnston's army and he was no 
longer under the command of Johnston's subordinates. 

J. G. of County, N. C, was a Methodist, who 

was much afraid of being taken to the army. He 
concluded to escape by crossing the mountains, and if 
possible to make his way to the West. After nearly 
two months he reached Tennessee on his way to In- 
diana, but he felt that his course was not the right one 
as it did not bring peace of mind. He therefore 
returned home to await whatever might befall him. 
He had not long to wait, for in about two weeks the 
officers arrested him and took him to Camp Holmes, 
near Raleigh. 

In a few days, with other conscripts, he was sum- 
moned before the officers, and all were ofPered bounty 
money if they would volunteer. All but three of the 
company accepted the money. These three now became 
the objects of the officers' attention. They were pre- 
sented with a paper which they were asked to sign, and 
were assured that they could have no money or 
clothing unless they signed it. This they refused to 
do, and were adroitly told that they would soon have 
need of both, and that if they did not come to want 
they could do much good by giving to those who did. 
They refused all these offers and met all arguments 
with the assertion that " AU war is opposed to tbe 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 151 

spirit and teachings of the Gospel and to the mission 
of the Christian." They said that his weapons were 
not carnal but spiritual. 

After a time, bundles of clothing were tossed to 
them, with many offensive epithets. They were now 
plainly told that they must either fight or be shot, and 
that the men behind them were ordered to shoot them 
if they did not fire in battle. J. G. replied : " You 
have me in your power, and may inflict on me any 
punishment you will. I cannot do more than submit 
to what you inflict. My hands are clean of the blood 
of all men, and I intend to keep them so, cost what it 
may." 

In vain the officers attempted to force the bounty 
money upon them ; but failing, one of them came for- 
ward and said : " Boys, I want to give you some good 
advice. Take your clothing and money and go along ; 
obey your officers and do right ; or else you will be 

put under the sharp officers of Colonel S , who 

will have you shot into strings if you do not obey. 
Just put away your Quaker notions and do right. 
What regiment will you be sent to ? " They refused 
to make any choice, and J. G. was ordered to Rich- 
mond, Virginia. 

But Friends' attention had been called to this 
Quaker-Methodist, whose loyalty to his Master's com- 
mands had been so conspicuously manifested. A 
committee from the meeting for sufferings proceeded 
to Richmond to see what they could do for his release, 
and before his arrival at that city he was met with the 
good news that he was a free man. The efforts of the 



152 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

committee had in some way induced the officials to 
recognize him as a Friend, " within the meaning of 
the law," and he proceeded to make it so in fact by 
soon after attaching himself to that church. 

In this connection it may be well to insert an extract 
from a pamphlet published by North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting in 1868. 

" It was in the midst of such commotions that many 
were led to very serious thoughts upon the incon- 
sistency of war and fighting with the loving and quiet 
spirit of a disciple of Jesus. Decided first upon this 
point and then led on to the consideration of others, 
many sought admission to our Society. The whole 
number of these, including those members of their 
families who were often received with them, was about 
six hundred. 

" There were many other grounds upon which the 
more quiet citizens of our State were opposed to the 
war, but such motives could rai-ely have been the 
inducement for them to unite with us, nor did such 
a step allow of much hope of escape from suffering. 
Only those who were actually members at the time the 
exemption act was passed were allowed the benefit of 
it. It is, however, true that through the leniency of 
some officers in the Confedei'ate War Deiiartmcnt, 
this act was sometimes so construed as to cover other 
cases. But for this, special application had to be made, 
and such influences brought to bear as few could hope 
to secure, while the release was actually obtained only 
after a lengthened period of trial had tested the reality 
of their convictions. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 153 

"Thus it fell out that the storm burst with the 
greatest violence upon some who were in many ways 
the least prepared to meet it. By their old associates 
those who adopted such views were regarded as lacking 
the excuse of early training, and in their family circles 
the suffering they endured had often to be shared 
more or less by those who did not partake of the con- 
victions that occasioned it. But He whose streno-th 
is given according to our need prepared many of these 
faithful men to suffer cheerfully for his name's sake 
and to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus 
Christ. 

" In the great multitude that swelled the two vast 
armies arrayed against each other, there could not 
have been found instances of more lofty heroism, of 
calmer courage, and of more fearless, unshrinking 
endurance of death, and of agonies beyond those of 
death, than were exhibited by that little band who 
made up another army and followed, as their only 
captain, the Prince of Peace. 

" No hope of higher honors lured them on, no exult- 
ing nation gave them its gratitude. Reviled and 
persecuted, their Heavenly Leader sustained them 
with one sure promise, ' Great is your reward in 
Heaven.' " 



CHAPTER VIII. 

" O wild birds flying from the South, 
What saw and heard ye, gazing down ? " 

" We saw the mortar's up-turned mouth, 
The sickened camp, the blazing town I 

We heard the starving prisoner's sighs. 
And saw, from line and trench, your sons 
Follow our flight with homesick eyes 
Beyond the battery's smoking guns." 

Whittier. 

Many of the peace-loving people who were unwill- 
ing to bear arms were thrust into Southern prisons 
prepared for United States soldiers, and there treated 
as prisoners of war by the Confederate officials. As 
we shall have occasion to follow a number of our 
Friends to these prisons, it will be well to give our 
readers some account of the management and condi- 
tion of them, — not with any feeling of prejudice 
against the Southern people, among whom the writer 
has lived for about twenty years, identified with them 
and interested in the rapid development of the re- 
sources of the South and in her recovery from the 
terrible devastation of the war. Those who were di- 
rectly responsible for the condition of things in con- 
nection with these prisons have nearly all passed 
away, and most if not all of the managers of them 
came to a violent death. We have no wish to reflect 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 155 

unkindly upon any, but honestly to record tlie facts 
pertaining to the subject before us, and in some degree 
to give the reader an impartial account of the work 
and results of the war. 

The principal prisons for the Yankee soldiers dur- 
ing the war were Libby and Danville in Virginia, 
Salisbury in North Carolina, Florence in South Caro- 
lina, Millen and Andersonville in Georgia. The last 
named was the farthest from the seat of war and usu- 
ally had the largest number of prisoners. 

T. H. Mann, the author of " That Yankee in An- 
dersonville," states in a private letter to the writer 
that " Brigadier-General J. H. Winder, as Commis- 
sary-General of the Confederacy, had full charge and 
control of all prisoners of war. The lack of provi- 
sions, shelter, medicine, and all was believed to be 
the direct result of orders from him. There is no 
evidence that he acted under the orders or advice, or 
even sought the advice, of any authority higher than 
his own ; nor was he ever made to answer for his 
treatment of prisoners until he was suddenly called 
to judgment. The hundreds of complaints of General 
Winder's inhumanity that were made on all sides to 
the Confederate authorities at Richmond were simply 
referred to Winder without comment or advice from 
them. Wirz and Barret were his willing tools, who 
even added to Winder's orders cruelties of their own 
invention. The commanders of other stockades were 
under the necessity of doing badly, if they were not 
in full sympathy with Winder's policy ; but the fact 
remains that to Winder belongs the disgrace of Belle 



156 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Isle, Andersonville, Florence, and Salisbury, with all 
their horrors." 

J. II. Winder is said to have declared that he 
killed more Yankees in prisons than the army killed 
in battle. On January 1, 1865, he dropped dead at 
Florence, S. C, as he was about to enter a tent for a 
dinner prepared with great care for himself and offi- 
cers. He was " struck dead by the hand of God," as 
the soldier boys in blue believed, because of his inhu- 
man treatment of those under his care. Davis was 
sentenced to be himg, but died in prison. Barret is 
said to have been shot by a cavahyman who had been 
his prisoner. Captain Wirz was tried by a United 
States military commission and executed in August, 
1865. 

On the 27th of November, 1863, W. S. Winder, the 
son of J. II. Winder, selected the site for Anderson- 
ville "prison pen." On February 15, 1864, the first 
company of prisoners was sent there, and he took 
charge of them in April. He had been in charge of 
the prisons at Richmond, Va., and his treatment of 
the jioor unfortunates at that place had been so cruel 
that Burroughs, the editor of the " Richmond Exami- 
ner," upon noticing in the paper that he had gone to 
Andersonville, said : " Thank God that Richmond is at 
last rid of old Winder. May God have mercy upon 
those to whom he has been sent." 

Captain Henry Wirz commanded the stockade. 
He was a native of Switzerland, a physician, and a 
resident of Louisiana before the war. He was a des- 
perate character and seemed to study to increase 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 157 

ratlier than to relieve the sufferings of those under his 
charge. So recldess was he of human life that he 
hesitated not to kill prisoners outright upon the 
slightest provocation, sometimes without provocation. 

T. H. Mann, who was an eye-witness, says : " On 
one occasion he rode into the stockade accompanied 
by two or three attendants, who were also on horse- 
back. The object of his visit was to demand that the 
chief of the ' Union League ' be delivered up to him. 
Of the crowd that collected about him probably not 
one in fifty knew that such a league existed, and of 
the actual members of the league but few knew who 
the chief was. Wirz was very soon informed to this 
effect, and the statement seemed to arose the demon 
in him, for he swore fearfully at the crowd that 
gathered about him. He soon turned to retire from 
the prison yard, and when nearly within the gateway 
drew his heavy revolver and fired the contents, six 
bidlets, into the crowd of emaciated, starving men 
who had collected about him. Without stopping to 
discover the effect of his shooting he put spurs to 
his horse, sprang through the gate and galloped 
away. Two men were killed outright by his shots, 
and several others were wounded." 

G. M. Gidney of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., states that 
he was imprisoned in Salisbury for two months ; in 
Florence, S. C, for many weeks ; and he spent four 
months in Andersonville prison, Georgia, under Cap- 
tain Wirz. He says that the descriptions and state- 
ments given in this chapter in regard to these prisons, 
the prisoners, and their keepers, are correct ; that the 



158 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

condition was past description, and that in no par- 
ticular is this account exaggerated. Mr. Gidney 
states that it was not only once but many times that 
AVirz came within the stockade and deliberately shot 
the prisoners. Sometimes, if they were too weak to 
get from before his horse, he would shoot them, tell- 
ing them he would " help them to move on." 

Mr. Gidney asserts that fresh beef was issued to 
the prisoners only once during the four months that 
he was there. He escaped from the prison three 
times by different means, and each time he was over- 
taken by the bloodhounds sent after him and obliged 
to climb trees for safety, as the hounds would have 
torn him to pieces could they have reached him. The 
third time he made his escape with his companions, 
after two months' hard work tunneling their way 
beyond the pickets, and they found themselves breath- 
ing tlie air of freedom ; but the next day a cow, 
attempting to cross the line of the tunnel, broke 
through the thin crust of earth above it and fell in, 
thus revealing to the authorities the escape of the 
prisoners. The dogs were at once sent in pursuit, 
followed by men as eager as for a fox-chase. For 
four days Gidney was hidden under a dead hollow 
tree, where he was fed b}^ the colored people, who 
passed food through an opening in the trunk. 

On the eleventh day after his escape he heard the 
cry of the bloodhounds near him, and was obliged to 
climb a tree for preservation. lie was captured and 
returned to Wirz, who said he was glad to see him, 
— would rather see him than any other prisoner who 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 159 

had escaped. " Well ! I am here," was the reply. 
" You cannot treat me any worse than you have done, 
unless you starve or shoot me." " Oh, no ! " said 
Wirz, " I '11 not shoot you ; I '11 punish you." 
Calling his aids, he ordered them to put Gidney and 
two other men in close confinement and allow them 
no food until he said so. After Gidney had been left 
in the small enclosure with his fellow-prisoners, he 
told them that it was doubtless Wirz's intention to 
starve them to death, but still it was their duty to live 
as long as they could. " There are signs of rats here, 
and we must catch them to eat." This his compan- 
ions said they could not do. 

On the fifth day of their confinement, one of his 
companions died. On the seventh day, the other was 
so weak as to be unable to turn himself or to speak, 
and was almost gone, when Gidney was unexpectedly 
called out of his prison. He had been exchanged for 
some Confederate prisoner of war, and an officer out- 
ranking Wirz was to be obeyed by him. Weighing 
only sixty-two pounds of the usual one hundred and 
forty, Gidney staggered to the light and thus escaped 
the death Wirz had intended for him. He had eaten 
raw five rats during the seven days of his confinement, 
which his companions were unwilling to do and there- 
fore perished. 

As the writer listened to this tale of horror he 
could not but notice that tears filled the eye of the 
narrator as he recalled those days of suffering, though 
thirty long years had intervened. 

Lest we be charged with partiality in presenting 



160 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

from one side only witnesses as to the condition of 
these military prisons, — the side of the sufferers, — 
we will quote from a report of one of the officials 
of the Southern Confederacy whose duty it was to in- 
spect the state of affairs at Anderson ville. He was 
Lieut.-Col. D. T. Chandler, and his report was made 
August 5, 1864. When we have read this report we 
have not only the case of Andersonville before us, 
but of all the others. The writer mingled for nearly 
twenty years with the people of Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and Ken- 
tucky, and this intercourse has given him a knowledge 
of the general facts concerning these prisons, as they 
were narrated to him by citizens and by the prisoners 
themselves ; and the stories concerning those impris- 
oned in different places all agree. 

Captain Bennett, in immediate charge at Florence, 
George Clark in charge at Salisbury, and Wirz at 
Andersonville, were all under the inhuman orders of 
Winder, and were his aids in the terrible purpose to 
reduce, by exposure and starvation, the number of 
their prisoners. 

In the summer of 1864, Lieut.-Col. D. T. Chandler 
officially inspected Andersonville prison, and in his 
report to the Confederate Government he says : " Send 
no more prisoners to that i)en. Remove all prisoners 
above 15,000, — that is, 20,000 to 25,000 prisoners 
ought to be provided for elsewhere." He further 
says : " There is lU) medical attendance provided within 
the stockade. Small quantities of medicine are placed 
in the hands of certain prisoners of each squad or 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 161 

division, and the sick are brought out by sergeants at 
' sick call,' to the medical officers who attend at the 
gate. The crowd at these times is so great that only 
the strongest can get access to the doctors, the weaker 
ones being unable to force their way through the 
press ; and the hospital accommodations are so limited 
that the beds (so-called) have all, or nearly all, two 
occupants each. Large numbers who would other- 
wise be received are necessarily sent back to the stock- 
ade. Many (twenty yesterday) are carted out daily 
who have died from unknown causes, and whom the 
medical officers have never seen. The dead are 
hauled out daily by tjie wagon load, and are buried 
without coffins, their hands in many instances being 
first mutilated with an axe in the removal of any 
finger rings they may have. 

" The sanitary condition of the prisoners is as 
wretched as can be, the principal causes of mortality 
being scurvy and chronic diarrhoea. Nothing seems 
to have been done and but little effort made, if any, 
to arrest it by procuring proper food. The ration is 
one third of a pound of bacon and one and one fourth 
pounds of unbolted corn meal, with fresh beef at rare 
intervals and occasionally rice. When to be ob- 
tained (very seldom), a small quantity of molasses is 
substituted for the meat ration. A little weak vine- 
gar, unfit for use, has sometimes been issued. 

" The arrangements for cooking and baking have 
been wholly inadequate, and though additions are now 
being completed, it will still be impossible to cook for 
the whole number of prisoners. Raw rations have to 



162 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

be issued to a very large proportion, who are entirely 
unprovided with proper utensils and furnished with so 
limited a supply of fuel that they are compelled to dig 
with their hands in the filthy marsh before-mentioned 
for roots, etc. No soap or clothing has ever been 
issued. 

" The present hospital arrangements are only in- 
tended for the accommodation of the sick of ten thou- 
sand men, and are totally insufficient both in character 
and extent for the present needs, — the number of 
prisoners being now more than three times as great. 
The number of cases requiring treatment is in an in- 
creased ratio. 

" My duty requires me to recommend a change in 
the officer in command of the post, Brigadier-General 
J. H. Winder, and the substitution in his place of 
some one who unites both energy and good judgment 
with some feeling of humanity and consideration for 
the welfare and comfort (so far as is consistent with 
their safe-keeping) of the vast number of unfortu- 
nates placed under his control ; some one who at least 
will not advocate deliberately and in cold blood 
the propriety of leaving them in their present condi- 
tion until their number has been sufficiently reduced 
by death to make the present arrangement sufficient 
for their accommodation ; who will not consider it 
a matter of self-laudation and boasting that he has 
never been inside the stockade, — a place the horror 
of which it is difficult to describe and which is a dis- 
grace to civilization, the condition of which might, by 
the exercise of a little energy and judgment, even with 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 163 

the limited means at his command, be considerably 

improved." 

As in the mouth of two or tliree witnesses every 
word shall be confirmed, we will venture to introduce 
one other report, also on file at Washington. 

There was in the South a volume called "A Keport 
on the Treatment of Prisoners of War." In this 
were recorded several reports of Confederate surgeons 
and inspectors to the Confederate authorities, on the 
condition of hospitals and prisons. It is impossible 
on account of the horrible nature of the details 
to quote generally from them. The following, which 
is the report of J. Crews Pelot, Assistant-Surgeon, 
C. S. A., September 5, 1864, inasmuch as it does not 
refer to the appearance and sufferings of the prisoners 
nor to the worst features of their surroundings, may 
properly be quoted without omission. It gives an idea 
of the destitution in the hospital, where it would be 
supposed special efforts would have been made to 
alleviate hunger and distress. 

u giR^ _ As officer of the day, for the past twenty- 
four hours I have inspected the hospital and found it 
in as good condition as the nature of the circum- 
stances will allow. A majority of the bunks are still 
unsupplied with bedding, while in a portion of the 
division the tents are entirely destitute of either 
bunks, bedding, or straw, the patients being com- 
pelled to lie upon the bare ground. 

" I would earnestly call attention to the article of 
diet. The cornbread from the bakery, being made 



164 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

up witliont sifting, is wholly unfit for the sick, and 
often (in the last twenty-four hours) upon examination 
the inner part is found to be perfectly raw. The 
meat (beef) received by the patients does not amount 
to over two ounces a day, and for the past three or 
four days no flour has been issued. The cornbread 
cannot be eaten by many, for to do so would be to in- 
crease the disease of the bowels from which a large 
majority are suffering, and it is therefore thrown 
away. All the rations received by way of sustenance 
is two ounces of beef and half a pint of rice soup per 
day. Under these circumstances all the skill that can 
be brought to bear upon their cases by the medical 
officer will avail nothing. 

" Another point to which I feel it my duty to call 
your attention is the deficiency of medicines. We 
have little more than indigenous barks and roots with 
which to treat the numerous forms of disease to which 
our attention is called. For the treatment of wounds, 
ulcers, etc., we have literally nothing except water. 
Our wards, some of them, are filled with gangrene, 
and we are compelled to fold our arms and look 
quietly upon its ravages, not even having stimulants 
to support the system under its depressing influences, 
— this article being so limited in supply that it can 
be issued only for cases under the knife. 

" I would respectfully call your attention to the 
above facts, hoping that something may be done to 
alleviate the sufferings of the sick. 

J. Crew^s Pelot, 
Assistant-Surgeon, C. S. A." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 165 

No wonder that T. H. Mann, who has been quoted 
above, states that " between February, 18G4, and No- 
vember of the same year nearly every other man who 
entered the gates of Andersonville left his bones 
there." And reliable authority states that between 
July 1st and November 1st, 1864, 12,000 men died 
there. Of one company of sixty men captured to- 
gether, thirteen only lived to escape the prison. The 
ordinary men averaged only three months of this 
terrible treatment. Three out of every four taken to 
hospital died. In September, 1861, one man of every 
three in the prison died. 

Salisbury, N. C, is situated in Roanoke County, on 
the line of the North Carolina Railroad from Rich- 
mond to Charlotte, where the Western North Caro- 
lina Railway, from Tennessee and Asheville, connects 
with the former. We may be more explicit in our 
description of the prison at this place, as here more of 
the Friends were confined than at the other prisons. 
A number of native Southern men, property holders, 
intelligent citizens, whose only offense was their testi- 
mony to the principles of " Peace on earth and good- 
will toward men," were confined as prisoners of war in 
these military prisons, and treated in such an inhviman 
manner as has caused the civilized world to cry 
" Shame I " Perhaps so-called civilized warfare has 
never produced an exposition of greater disregard for 
the life and bodily necessities of helpless prisoners, 
unless it was when Napoleon ordered all his own sick 
and wounded soldiers at Acre to be killed with opium. 
War is indeed cruel, and you cannot refine it ; de- 



166 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

moralizing man until the better nature is crushed, and 
he, becoming hardened by contact with suffering and 
death, pays little heed to the means he might use for 
the relief and life of his fellowmen. 

The reader should again be reminded that, in re- 
cording these sorrowful facts, it is with no party or 
sectional spirit that it is done, and with no wish to 
stir up ill feeling in any on account of those things 
which so many wish to forget. These things are the 
outgrowth of slavery and war, which bring the bad 
passions of men, and too often bad men, to the front, 
without reference to nationality or section. With no 
wish to cast unjust reflections upon any, but for truth's 
sake, and to present from the standpoint of one op- 
posed to all war the truth as it is revealed in the 
light of history, the writer ventures to recite that 
only for which he has luidoubted authority. This is 
done with the hope that many readers may be con- 
vinced, if they are not already so, that wars and fight- 
ings are contrary to the precepts and spirit of the 
GosjDel, and that the day may be hastened when 
" nations shall not learn war any more." Were the 
young men of our day to learn more of the horrors of 
war and its results, and had they less before them of 
its tinsel and so-called glory, they would be less ready 
to undertake the fearful calling. 

In 1861 Salisbury had about two thousand inhabi- 
tants, — colored and white, — six churches, one bank, 
two newspapers, two iron foundries, a gas-works, and 
several cotton mills. Here is now located the famous 
colored college, the fruit of the work of Dr. Price, the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 107 

" colored orator ; " and largely owing to his labors, no 
town of its size has more colored schools or better 
facilities for the education of the colored people than 
has the Salisbury of to-day. 

Just a little southwest of the railway station once 
stood a large brick building designed for a cotton fac- 
tory. Near by it were three smaller ones, and sur- 
rounding the group were about three acres of clear 
ground. Here the Confederate authorities placed 
what has since been known as Salisbury prison for 
Union prisoners of war. The grounds around the 
buildings were enclosed by a stockade of pine logs 
twenty feet long, hewn flat on two sides and placed 
endwise in the earth ten feet deep close against one 
another. It was needful to sink them deep, not only 
to insure firmness to the wall thus made but also to 
prevent the prisoners from digging under them. 

Planks two and a half inches thick were fastened 
against the stockade on the outside, so as to form a 
smooth surface seven feet high. Here the rampart 
for the guards was built, three feet wide, with sheltered 
stands at intervals of about one hundred feet. Thirty 
men at once were required to stand guard over these 
walls, night and day. 

About three feet from the inside of this wall there 
was a ditch three or four feet deep and four feet wide, 
except where the wagons crossed it at the two gates. 
Connected with this ditch was one from the outside, 
and these served to carry off the filth from the prison 
yard ; but very insufficient indeed they were for that 
purpose. 



168 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The lower part of this ditch was often lined with 
starving men, who sifted through their fingers the 
filth coming from above, seeking in it some bit of 
food that might possibly be found. Pieces of wood 
that were sometimes obtained by digging in the earth 
were often chewed by the prisoners for the nourish- 
ment they contained, and were then carefully saved 
for fuel to aid in cooking the raw rations that might 
be issued. 

This ditch also served as a dead-line. In some 
other prisons a rope was used for this purpose, and in 
some a slight rail or a ploughed furrow was employed. 
The prisoner who laid his hand on the rope, at- 
tempted to cross the line, or in any way encroached 
upon the dead-line, was immediately shot ; and many 
a poor prisoner, tired of life under such circum- 
stances, sick, suffering and discouraged, seeing no 
other hope of relief from his terrible situation, de- 
liberately went to his death by this means. It was 
well understood by the guards that if they shot a 
prisoner they would be given a month's furlough, 
and the circumstances of the shooting would not be 
inquired into. They were under positive orders to 
shoot those who in any way encroached upon the 
dead-line. 

The guard was composed largely of boys from 
twelve to sixteen years of age, with a few men too 
old for field service. The prisoners complained 
mostly of these boys, who seemed very careless of 
human life, and often shot prisoners ten or fifteen 
feet from the dead-line. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 169 

General Winder issued orders to keep cannon 
trained upon tlie prison yards, ready for instant use. 
On the 27th of July, before the fall of Atlanta, he 
issued the following order: "The officers on duty 
and in charge of the battery of Florida artillery at 
the time, will, upon receiving notice that the enemy 
have approached within seven miles of this post, open 
fire upon the stockade with grape-shot, without refer- 
ence to the situation beyond their lines of defense. 
It is better that the last Federal be exterminated 
than be permitted to burn and plunder the property 
of loyal citizens, as they will do, if allowed to escape 
from prison." There were at this time 34,000 help- 
less prisoners at Andersonville, whom Wirz would 
have thus deliberately murdered. 

The old cotton factory at Salisbury was used as a 
hospital and cook-house, two of the smaller buildings 
as lodging rooms for some special cases, and the third as 
a dead-house. In the latter the poor men were often 
placed before they were dead. Reduced as they were 
by starvation and exposure, they were sometimes 
easily overcome by the cold nights, and, in the morn- 
ing, because motionless and helpless, were taken for 
dead. Their clothing was taken off, though some- 
times the under garments were left, any vahiables 
about them were appropriated, and the body was put 
in the dead-house, to be taken away when the dead- 
wao'on shoidd come for its load of corpses, — which 
was every morning. 

One case in which a man was thus placed in the 
dead-house, while still alive, has come to the know- 



170 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

ledge of the writer through the account of an eye- 
witness of undoubted reliability, and, shocking as it 
is, it is only one evidence of the many barbarities of 
war, which degrades mankind and causes men to 
forget that they all are brethren. 

On one occasion a gentleman of fine appearance 
and well dressed was brought to Salisbury prison. 
He was evidently used to the comforts of life, and 
unaccustomed to exposure and hardship. He was 
soon overcome by the treatment he received. One 
morning, soon after his arrival, he was taken for dead, 
stripped of most of his clothing, the buttons were 
cut from the remainder, and he was placed in the 
dead-house. As they put him into the wagon a Yan- 
kee doctor, who was among the prisoners, discerned 
signs of life in him, and requested the men in charge 
to put him back, which they refused to do. The doc- 
tor explained the matter to the guard, and called 
upon him to leave the still living prisoner. They 
then rudely threw him upon the ground, but were 
finally compelled by the guards to put him in the 
house. The Yankee doctor gave him such attend- 
ance as he could, and called upon a prison physician 
for assistance. The man finally recovered and lived 
to escape from the prison. 

The custom of handling the bodies was rude in 
the extreme, and is only another illustration of 
the demoralizing and brutalizing effects of the war 
system. As the dead-wagon was driven into the 
yard each morning, the driver called loudly : " Bring 
out your dead." Two men grasped each a hand and 



SOUTHERN HEROES. Ill 

a foot of tlie supposed corpse, often swinging it, to 
obtain united force, and then threw it, as we have seen 
dressed hogs thrown into a wagon ; and precisely as 
we have seen men handle these with a hook, if occa- 
sion required, the driver or assistant would hook the 
body under the jaw and drag it into place in the 
wagon. The load was taken to the trench, a quarter 
of a mile away on the hillside. Here a ditch had 
been dug, six to seven feet wide, and the emaciated 
bodies, with no tender hands, no casket or winding 
sheet, were placed crosswise in the ditch side by side. 
Others were placed upon top of these, and thus tier 
upon tier was formed until the ditch was nearly filled, 
and then they were rudely covered from the sight 
of men. 

On his arrival at the prison camp the prisoner was 
searched for any valuables he might have, and unless 
he managed to secrete them in some way from the 
eager eyes of the searchers, they were taken from 
him. Any extra blanket or clothing he might have 
was taken away, and he was turned loose within the 
stockade, as cattle might be, to find shelter and make 
his bed as best he could. Few of the nine thou- 
sand men in the prison could do better than lie 
upon the bare ground, of which there was only about 
three acres. Some did dig caves and cover them- 
selves with sticks and the earth which they dug out. 
Some made bricks of the dirt and built what they 
thought were quite comfortable houses ; but the bricks 
were only sun-dried, and when the rains came the 
houses fell, in some instances burying the inmates. 



172 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Sometimes two, three, or four prisoners would join 
their blankets and coats, and make of these a shelter 
from the chilling dews and rains. Frequent attempts 
to dig a way out of the prison-pen were made by the 
men, but they were seldom successfid. 

The food of the prisoners was usually Indian corn- 
bread and soup. The meal was made of maize, 
ground with the cob and unsifted. The soup some- 
times contained vegetables, and the beef, if any was 
issued, was of the poorest possible kind. On some 
occasions the prisoners were not given a particle of 
food for three or four days together. At other times 
one pint of this meal and two ounces of bacon (if 
there was any) per man were dispensed daily. The 
men had no means of cooking it. Occasionally a pint 
of unground corn was given to each man. The 
younger men could grind it in small quantities with 
their teeth, but some whose teeth were poor were 
hardly bestead. Those whose teeth were loosened by 
scurvy would often swallow them with the bread, 
and their gums would frequently be broken and 
bleeding. A small amount of poor water could be 
obtained from wells in the prison yard, and some was 
also secured by the prisoners being allowed to go out- 
side the yard and carry it within in barrels. 

Meat was an object of importance, and became the 
subject of many bitter disputes and sometimes of (uiar- 
rels. Often after the death of a man, those in the 
squad would keep him secreted for several days before 
notifying the officials, in order to draw his rations, 
whif'h would then be divided among those in the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 173 

secret. When meat was issued, it became the custom 
for one in each squad to place the pieces in a row, 
and then one of the men woukl place his finger upon 
a piece, and another man, standing with his back to 
the man who touched the meat, would call the num- 
ber of the man who was to receive it ; thus a difficult 
question of choice was settled. There was plenty of 
meat in the vicinity. At Anderson ville, it is stated 
by a prisoner, that, for three months, no meat what- 
ever was issued, and the last six months it was issued 
not more than six times. 

The opportunities for cleanliness were so insufficient 
that many became reckless of the care of their own 
persons. Vermin were so numerous as actually to 
cover the ground, and anywhere within the prison 
they could be seen crawling, if one stood and looked 
for them. 

In his testimony before the Congressional com- 
mittee, Thomas A. Pillsbury, of the 16th Connec- 
ticut, stated that rations were withheld for three 
days because Lieut. Bennett of Florence was unable 
to find out which one of the prisoners had been dig- 
ffing- a certain tunnel. " The man who dug the tun- 
nel," T. A. Pillsbury says, "went out and told 
him, and then we received our rations." At all these 
prisons some excuse was often found for neglecting 
to issue any rations for two or three days at a time, 
and this was always followed by a largely increased 
mortality. 

Eestless and suffering, it is no wonder that many of 
the prisoners tried to escape. Patiently, night after 



174 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

night, would some of them work, with perhaps the 
remains of a ease knife, a part of a tin canteen or any 
such article, digging, digging, little by little, the small 
number in the secret taking turns, in the almost hope- 
less task of tunneling a way to freedom. Sometimes 
they succeeded in keeping their secret from the spies 
that were sent among them and from the prisoners 
outside the circle, and by this or other means effected 
their escape from the confines of the prison. With 
silent step and silent rejoicings they would start for 
the land of freedom. But Southern men had learned 
that bloodhounds could track the colored man in his 
attempts to escape to the land of the free, and so 
if successful in passing the guards the escaped prison- 
ers generally found themselves pursued by tlie ter- 
rible beasts, were often caught and taken back to the 
prison. 

In an official report of Wirz, of Andersonville, for 
the month of August, 1864, he says : " The prison- 
ers numbered 31,678, of whom 1699 were in hospital 
during the month, 2993 died, 23 were sent to other 
places, 21 were exchanged, 30 escaped, four of whom 
were recaptured ; but the depletion from death and 
other causes was more than made good by the receipt 
of 3078 new prisoners, so that on August 30 tliere 
were 31,693 in the prison, 2220 of whom were in the 
hospital." lie further says: "Perhaps twenty-five 
more prisoners escaped during the month, but were 
taken by the dogs before the daily return was made 
up, and for that reason were not in the list of escaped 
or recaptured." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 175 

It would appear from this report that fifty-five 
men escaped from Audersonville during that mouth, 
twenty-nine of whom were captured by the dogs. 
Seven men were placed in stocks within sight of the 
prisoners, and never released from their painful posi- 
tion until relieved by death, and it was nearly two 
weeks before the last one died. 

As there were so many men in so small a space 
— the average was 33 2-10 square feet per man in 
August, 1864, including swamp and entire yard, 
much of which could not be used, — many of them 
the most depraved and wicked, it was necessary to 
organize a police force and a court within the prison, 
for the officials gave themselves no concern as to what 
rascality went on among the prisoners. A man known 
to have a few dollars was the object of the envious 
wicked men, and human life was actually so cheap in 
their eyes as to tempt some to murder for a dollar or 
two. Two men were known to have been murdered 
and thrown into a well, that the murderers might 
secure about three dollars that had belonged to their 
victims. This police and detective force arrested a 
large number of culprits, who were tried before a 
court, and six men were convicted of their crimes 
and hung within the prison yard. One of the con- 
demned meu escaped from his captors as they were 
about to mount the scaffold, causing some commotion, 
and being afraid of an assault upon the stockade, 
Wirz, through fear and lack of judgment, ordered 
the cannon, which were already charged with grape 
and canister, fired upon the thronging prisoners. 



176 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Had the captain in charge, who coukl see the cause 
of the commotion, been obedient to the order, thou- 
sands must have been killed. As it was, Wirz's 
command caused such a stampede that the arms and 
legs of many were broken, and some were said to have 
been killed. 

The visitor now finds at the entrance of the United 
States cemetery at Salisbury a neat brick cottage, 
where once lived, and may yet live, a one-armed vet- 
eran, employed by the United States government to 
care for this city of the dead ; and faithfully did he 
care for the graves of those who suffered in the Salis- 
bury prison. Long rows of white-painted head- 
boards, upon which, in black lettering, are the words 
"unknown," "unknown," "unknown," with a little 
slab opposite, now mark the ditch where were rudely 
laid away forever the bodies of the soldiers from 
Northern homes. There are besides many stones 
with names and dates ; and on the hill the United 
States has placed a monument to the memory of 
her sons. 

Never will the writer forget one clear spring morn- 
ing, a few years after the surrender, when he had 
traveled much in the South without a sight of the 
dear old Stars and Stripes. Weeks and months he 
had passed without seeing the " red, white, and blue ; " 
but this morning on looking out of a hotel window in 
Salisbury, he saw waving in the moi-ning sunliglit a 
large United States flag, the sight of which filled his 
soul with feelings of patriotism such as a peace-loving 
Friend might safely indulge. There, in the heart of 



SOUTHERN HEROES. Ill 

the land which had been so recently under the Con- 
federate government and so long the land of slavery, 
the writer bowed before the God of all grace and 
thanked Him that the terrible struggle was ended ; 
that slavery, the curse of the South and of all our 
land, was a thing of the past ; and that the dear old 
flag could once more be unfurled in the balmy breezes 
of the Southland, and be recognized as the flag of 
" Our Country." 



CHAPTER IX. 

God'3 ways seem dark, but soon or late 

They touch the shining hills of day ; 

The evil cannot brook delay ; 

The good can well afford to wait. 

Give ermined knaves their hour of crime ; 

Ye have the future, grand and great, 

The safe appeal of Truth to time. 

Whittier. 

*' He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide 
under the shadow of the Almighty." 

" A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right 
hand, but it shall not come uigh thee." — Psalm xci. 1 and 7. 

Ten miles east of Ashboro, the county seat of 
Randolph County, N. C, there is a settlement known 
in all that region as " Holly Spring neighborhood." 
The name " Holly Spring " was given to the Friends' 
meeting there which was established in the early his- 
tory of the country. The name was suggested by 
the remarkably fine spring, now near the meeting- 
house, where all comers have found a generous pool 
of excellent water, under the shadow of evergreen, 
prickly-leaved holly - bushes. The residents were 
mostly Friends, — farmers from generation to genera- 
tion, living their quiet lives with little to interfere 
with the daily routine of duty. 

At the time of which we write, the Friends' meeting- 
house was the only place of worship for miles around. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 179 

It was built with a low ceiling, and with raised seats 
along the front of the room for the ministers and 
elders. Through the centre of the building were 
shutters, which, when closed, formed a partition, sep- 
arating the men's and women's meetings. A plain 
meeting-house it was, with no cushioned seats or easy 
chairs. Ancient as it was (for a new one has now 
taken its place), it was the successor of one built of 
logs within the same " clearing." 

Near by, directly in front of the house, is a large 
burial-ground, where the whole community for genera- 
tions past has been permitted to bury its dead. In 
the old i)art only the mound shows the place where 
some loved one was laid away a century and more ago. 
Other graves are marked by the never-decaying jjine- 
knot, standing upright in the red earth, washed by the 
rains of decades past, but still marking the head of 
the grave of some former resident of Holly Spring 
neighborhood. Of later time (and some of them 
dated a century ago), we find the low slate, perhaps 
from Wales, or the common field stone, with initial 
and date rudely cut upon it. Some of the graves are 
covered by shingled roofs large enough to prevent the 
rain from falling upon them. Near the meeting-house 
the graves are marked by the modern marble slab. 

Many of those whose bodies had been laid away in 
this silent resting place had, by their faithful lives 
and teaching, done much toward moulding the charac- 
ter of those who were living in this neighborhood when 
the war broke out. Generation after generation had 
been taught that the Prince of Peace was their law- 



180 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

giver. Not only did the members of tliis little church 
partake of the views of Friends, but many in the 
community around, having all their lives attended this 
meeting- and mingled with them, were Friends except 
in membership. 

Soon after Governor Early declared that North 
Carolina was seceded from the Union, orders w^ere sent 
here for every man between the ages of eighteen and 
thirty-five to appear before the officers at Ashboro 
and be enrolled. Many of these people did not feel 
willing to appear ; some went the other way ; some 
answered the call and explained to the officers the 
grounds of their objections to war. One officer told 
them that the army was no place for religion ; that 
the military authorities had nothing to do with that 
question. They wanted men to fight the Yankees, and 
men they must have. 

The first draft in North Carolina was made in 1861. 
The Friends generally kept about their usual occupa- 
tions, although expecting to be called for, and when 
the soldiers came, many of them were pursuing their 
peaceful callings. 

Levi Cox, Thomas Hinshaw, Amos Hinshaw, Calvin 
Cox, Michael Cox, J. J. Allen, Hezekiah Allen, and 
his three brothers, William, Clarkson, and Franklin, 
were drafted. 

Levi Cox and his father owned a grist-mill. Levi 
was miller, and on this account he was liberated. The 
difficulty of procuring supplies of various kinds, on 
accoimt of the early blockade of the Southern ports, 
made it needful for the Confederate government to 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 181 

manufacture many articles. Among these was salt, 
and for this purpose works were established near Wil- 
mington, N. C. Here Michael Cox, Thomas and 
Amos Hinshaw and Clarkson Allen were assigned to 
duty. This they recognized as a legitimate business, 
but, claiming that their time was of more value at 
home, they each paid fifteen dollars for others to take 
their places for one month, and were allowed to return 
home. 

Clarkson Allen and Amos Hinshaw immediately 
started for the West, and after eighty-five days of 
privation, exposure and danger they succeeded in 
crossing the mountains and reaching Indiana. On 
one occasion their colored guide was captured and shot. 
Amos Hinshaw saw it done from his hiding-place, but 
knowing that any attempt to save his noble guide 
would result in the loss of two more lives, he could 
do nothing better than to remain quiet. 

Calvin Cox's father was not a Friend, but as he 
was unwilling to have his son taken to the war, if 
there was any way to prevent it, he hired a substitute 
for him. Allen was released on account of his poor 
health. 

In 1862 this quiet neighborhood was again invaded 
by soldiers searching for men. The conscript act was 
being rigorously enforced, and they took away Isaac 
and Enoch Cox ; Thomas Hinshaw the second time : 
his other brother, Jacob ; also their cousins, Cyrus 
and Nathaniel Barker, who were brothers ; Nathaniel 
Cox, Jeremiah Pickett and his brother Simon ; John 
and Milton Cox; three brothers, Charles J., Adonijah 



182 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

aud William Stout ; Anson and Solomon Cox ; J. 
Allen the second time ; John Allen, Jeremiah Littler, 
John Barker and Nathan Allen. 

In March, 1863, the homes of this jieaceful people 
were again visited by the home guard, seeking for 
more men to go to the front. William and John C. 
Willis, Charles and Ahijah Macon, Newton J. Silar 
and three brothers, Gideon, Isaiah and A. M. Ma- 
con, were taken. 

The age limit for enrollment having been again ex- 
tended, the soldiers once more came to Holly Spring 
in June, 1863, and at this time Eli Macon, Neri and 
Seth Cox, Eli Cox and his brother Harmon, Yancey 
Cox, and others whose names have not been seciu*ed, 
were arrested and taken to the army. 

We have now given the names of forty-three men 
from this neighborhood, and mostly members of this 
little country church. It would involve too much re- 
petition to follow each of them through their varied 
experiences, but they were all of one mind. They 
had long lived in peace at their homes, endeavoring 
with humility to serve the Prince of Peace, and they 
were forbidden by religious conviction to serve a cause 
that seemed to them unrighteous, or to quarrel with 
a people against whom they had no grievance. Two 
of the brothers Stout and John Allen secreted them- 
selves for a time, then made their escape, and went 
West. Calvin Cox, we may remember, had been re- 
presented in the army for some months by a substi- 
tute, and according to the usual laws of nations could 
not be taken meanwhile as a soldier. But, as we have 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 183 

learned, the Confederate government wanted men, 
and decided to have them, to fight the Yankees ; so 
they were not scrupulous as to the laws of other 
nations, or their own, if men could be obtained by vio- 
lating them. Hence, after vainly pressing his claim, 
Calvin Cox paid the tax and received his exemption 
pajjers the second time. This was not an isolated 
case. About thirty of these Friends paid the tax at 
one time or another. 

Yancey Cox, who was only seventeen years old and 
weighed but eighty-four pounds, was taken from his 
widowed mother, but the officers tried in vain to make 
a soldier of this boy. He refused to take a gun or to 
wear military clothing. To bring him to subordina- 
tion he was made to march until the blood ran from 
his feet through the toes of his wornout shoes. He 
was pierced in the thigh with a bayonet, and to this 
day carries the scar of the wound thus made. An 
opportunity having occurred for him to escape in com- 
pany with twenty-seven others, Yancey seized it. 
When approaching their old homes this group of 
neighbors waded the Haw river and entered the dense 
forest for a hiding-place. Wet and shivering with 
the cold, they buried themselves in the leaves for 
warmth. Yancey aided the others to cover themselves 
until he alone was left, and then he too buried himself 
in a leafy mound. For a year these men remained in 
hiding, getting food as best they could, and many 
were the friendly hands extended for their relief. 
Knowing that there were men in the neighboi'hood 
who were " lying out," the home guard undertook in 



184 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

vain to extort from their friends a confession of their 
■ hiding-place. 

Just across Deep river from the settlement, and not 
far from the Friends' meeting-house, was what the 
people of the neighborhood called the " Bull-Pen," 
a rendezvous for the home guard. An old school- 
house was used as a prison for the parents of these 
men of legal age, whom the guards could not find. 
By confinement, punishment and torture they en- 
deavored to extort from these aged people information 
as to the hiding-places of their sons. Oftentimes the 
poor father and mother were as ignorant of this as the 
soldiers were, but the sons, after learning of the pun- 
iskment of their parents, would sometimes voluntarily 
come forward to relieve them from imprisonment and 
suffering, and allow themselves to be taken to the 
front, where they would escape at the first oppor- 
tunity. 

Levi Cox, who lives near there, says the soldiers 
placed the hands or fingers of the aged men and 
women between the lower rails of the fence, and with 
its crushing weight upon them would wait to be told 
what they wished. In order to increase the pressure 
upon the fingers or hands, the cruel soldiers would 
climb upon the fence and seat themselves. Failing 
thus to secure the desired information, they would 
sometimes tie a rope aroimd the waist of the women 
and hang them to a tree. One mother who would ere- 
long have given birth to another child was so hung 
in order to make her reveal the hiding-place of her 
boy, and she died as a result of this cruelty. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 185 

Tlie mother and sister o£ Yancey Cox were taken 
to this place and severely punished in order to induce 
them to tell where he was, but in vain, and the boy 
kept himself secreted until after the surrender of 
Richmond. 

Men able to work were so scarce that many crops 
of wheat were lost for want of hands to save them. 
Levi Cox worked thirty-two days cutting grain and 
securing food for women whose husbands were in the 
army or were " lying out," though he was warned re- 
peatedly that he would be shot as a deserter for leav- 
ing his post at the mill ; and he was finally compelled 
to remain there. 

At the breaking out of the civil war, Levi Cox was 
a United States postmaster, and had about three dol- 
lars of United States money in his possession. On 
going one day to pay his taxes he was asked if he had 
said, as reported, that he would not pay that money 
into the Confederate treasury. He replied that he 
had not said so. " Well, if you had, I would shoot 
you right here," was the reply. 

Gideon Macon was taken from home as a conscript 
by the soldiers. He was passed from one guard-house 
to another as a prisoner, was scoffed at and jeered on 
the way, and told of the dreadful things that woidd 
happen to him if he would not fight. He was finally 
sent to Lee's army, and was immediately called upon 
to take a gun, which was handed to him ; but he de- 
clined to do so. Upon ascertaining his determination 
not to receive the weapon, he was ordered to the rear 
to take a soldier's place as cook. He explained that 



186 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

he could not for conscience' sake take a soklier's 
place; that cooking of itself was needful, and he 
would not object to doing his own ; hut to take this 
man's place w^ould be doing a soldier's work, and he 
might as well do the fighting as the cooking. He 
could take no part in any duties of a soldier. 

The law of force is the law of war, and the officers, 
knowing perhaps no better way, thought that by pun- 
ishing him they could compel this man of peace to do 
their bidding ; but sometimes human power fails, and 
although they punished him all they knew how with- 
out killing him, he was, through silent suffering, the 
heroic conquerer. 

A severe punishment called " bucking-down " was 
practiced in the army, and in Gideon's case this was 
first resorted to. As we shall have occasion to use 
this term repeatedly, it is best here to describe the 
manner of doing it, that the reader may form some 
idea of the terrible punishment thus meted to innocent 
men. The man who is condemned to this trying 
ordeal is made to sit down on the ground ; his wrists 
are firmly bound together by strong cord or withes ; 
drawing up the knees his arms are pressed over them 
until a stout stick can be thrust over the elbows, un- 
der the linees, and thus the man's feet and hands are 
rendered useless for the time being. He can neither 
crawl nor creep. For hours Gideon Macon thus suf- 
fered, enduring not only the i)ain of body but the 
taunts of men who thought to ridicide and shame him 
into a surrender of his principles. 

The next day General Lee was so closely pressed by 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 187 

the Northern army that he was obliged to fall back. 
As they were retreating, the officers tried to make 
Gideon take a gun, but he was no more willing to 
take it when retreating than when advancing, and re- 
fused to touch it, at which the general in command of 
the division was very angry. His orders were not 
only disregarded, but openly disobeyed before his sub- 
ordinates, and this must not be permitted in an army 
whose success depends upon complete obedience. 
With fearful oaths the officer informed him that he 
would be immediately hung if he did not take the 
gun. 

Gideon could not be frightened. Death had no 
terror for him then, and fearing to disobey God more 
than men, he chose to keep a good conscience, and 
looking calmly at the general, he told him that he was 
in his power so far as God permitted that power to be 
exercised. He was not afraid to die, but would not 
disobey God's command. The general then peremp- 
torily ordered men to hang him to a certain tree. He 
was not aware of the close proximity of the Northern 
army, and before the order could be obeyed the men 
detailed were compelled to rush on for their own 
safety, and Gideon was hurried along with them. 

Refusing to accept any occupation of a military 
character, even to carry the officers' baggage, they 
abused him, kicked and beat him cruelly, but the 
man of peace could no more retaliate than he could 
fight the Yankees, and he meekly endured all for 
Jesus' sake. Having arrived at Petersburg he was 
put in the jail, where he underwent great hardships. 



188 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Not only was personal abuse inflicted upon liim, but 
the necessities of comfort and cleanliness were refused 
him. Even water to wash with he was deprived of 
for three weeks. 

Upon the disbanding of General Lee's army, after 
the surrender at Appomattox, our suffering prisoner 
was liberated, having endured months of cruel torture 
and imprisonment. He returned to the quiet of his 
home at Holly Spring to enjoy its blessings and a 
conscience void of offense toward God and man. 

J. J, Allen was first drafted and then conscripted, 
but he managed to evade his captors, and for twenty- 
two months hid in the woods. Much of this time 
Levi Cox placed a pan with provisions in it by a cer- 
tain post in his fence each night at a certain hour. It 
was emptied and another man was fed in the same way 
at another hour ; and for over a year these two men 
came regularly to the same place at different hours 
of the night, ignorant of each other's coming. They 
were finally much surprised upon seeing each other 
accidentally, as they were going the same way, one 
having been delayed owing to fear of detection. 

The father and mother of our friend Allen were 
arrested by the home guard, taken to the "Bull- 
Pen," and severely punished to make them reveal the 
whereabouts of their son. He finally surrendered in 
order to secure their release, was taken to Ashboro 
and required to stand guard as a soldier. This he 
refused to do, and was sent to Raleigh with Gideon 
Macon. He there refused any military employment, 
money, or equipments. At length, seeing a way to 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 189 

escape, he succeeded in doing so and made his way 
to Indiana. 

William Stout paid the tax, but securing his re- 
lease on the ground of his profession as a practising 
physician, he claimed that the five hundred dollars 
that he had paid as a tax should be returned, and 
entered suit for the same against the Confederate 
government. After much litigation, his lawyer suc- 
ceeded in obtaining the money, saying that it was the 
most difficult case he had ever had to prosecute, and 
that his share, one half the amount, paid him but 
poorly for his trouble. This is the only case of which 
we have ever heard in which the Confederate States 
of America was sued at law. 

During the exciting times incident to the beginning 
of the war. Southern ministers used their pulpits to 
fire the hearts of their hearers with the spirit of war. 
They encouraged the men to enter the army at once, 
and to drive from the Southern homes and country 
the invading Yankee. Many speakers declared that 
the Yankee could not fight ; that one Southern man 
was well known to be worth ten Northern ones, and 
could easily whip that many ; that the Northerners 
would not stand before them ; and that the blood 
spilled in gaining Southern independence could easily 
be wiped up with a pocket-handkerchief. 

Ahijah Macon, a young man of Holly Spring 
neighborhood, and a brother of Gideon Macon, was 
conscripted, and by these arguments was persuaded 
to accept a gun as a volunteer. He had not then 
become a member of the Friends' church, and really 



190 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

knew no way of escaping military service ; but he 
soon saw his mistake. Serving out the time for which 
he had enlisted, he obtained an honorable discharge, 
as ho supposed, for the war. While in the army he 
had improved the opportunity to consider the teach- 
ings of the Friends and compare them with the New 
Testament, so that he had become fully convinced by 
careful study and the scenes through which he had 
passed that they were right. On his return home he 
sought admission to the meeting at Holly Spring and 
became a member, thinking that now, without fear of 
draft or conscription, he would be permitted to enjoy 
the privilege of living peaceably \\^th all men and 
worshiijing God according to the dictates of his own 
conscience. But the Confederate government needed 
men to take the place of those who had fallen in 
battle, and he was available. His discharge from the 
army was disregai'ded, also his exemption papers, 
which he had received by paying the tax of five hun- 
dred dollars, and a sergeant was ordered to arrest 
him. This sergeant had been his schoolmate and life- 
long friend, and loved Macon so much that he would 
gladly have been relieved from this service or have 
done something to aid him to escape the army. But 
the laws of war take no notice of personal friendships 
when in conflict with the stern commands of superior 
officers, and the sergeant must obey, or the penalty 
sure and dreadful be suffered. So he took his friend 
prisoner, and then set to work at once to secure his 
release. His efforts were futile, but if not able to 
secure his freedom, he was in a position to protect 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 191 

him from abuse, and faithfully did, so long as they 
were together. 

Soon after his arrest, our friend became convinced 
that he would be released by death. He had a strong- 
impression that his days were now numbered, and 
while in good health he told his father of his convic- 
tions and fully informed him of his wishes. He gave 
his last messages to his brothers and sisters, and also 
directions as to his own burial. He was hurried on 
to Richmond and immediately required to take a gun 
and fight. But he was in no mood for fighting, so 
they put him under guard, and for food gave him 
only cane-seed meal. This was followed by severe 
illness, and he was removed to a hospital in Rich- 
mond, where he soon passed away, having laid down 
his life for the Gospel of Peace. He was a good sol- 
dier of Jesus Christ, and was early permitted a dis- 
charge and a reward more glorious than ever comes 
on account of victories won in battle. 

The third of the Macon brothers, Isaiah, had been 
a remarkably sensitive lad. Surrounded always by 
the peaceful and quiet influences of this rural district, 
he was very much shocked by any tale of horror, and 
the sight of blood so affected him that he would rather 
be excused from killing the fowls needed for his din- 
ner. Averse by nature as well as by principle to the 
barbarities of war, he had entertained hopes that he 
would be exempted, because he was engaged in the 
manufacture of iron. He was received into member- 
ship with Holly Spring Friends soon after the war 
began, but after the passage of the exemption law, 



192 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

and the government officials wonld not overlook such 
a cliance to make a soldier. One day, when away 
from home, he was arrested. The tender feelings of 
the home guard had long since been seared as with 
a hot iron, or entirely crushed by the many sad scenes 
incident to this cruel and soul-destroying business. 
They paid no heed to his earnest pleas to be allowed 
to go once more and see his wife and little ones, to 
bid them farewell before he should be taken from 
them forever. The loved ones at home were left to 
learn what had become of him as best they could, and 
he was hurried to Raleigh, N. C, and thence in a few 
days to the army in the Valley of Virginia. The 
battle of Winchester occurred immediately after his 
arrival, and the officers said : " If Macon will not 
fight, put him in the front to stop bullets for those 
who will." 

Taken almost directly from his quiet country home, 
this soldier of Jesus Christ, without sword or gun, 
was compelled to move immediately into that dreadful 
scene of carnage from which his sensitive nature so 
recoiled, and to listen to the fierce shouts and fearful 
oaths of the combatants around him ; then to the 
dreadful groans of wounded men and horses ; to see 
the gaping wounds made by shell, shot and sword ; 
to see the flowing blood and paling cheek. The neces- 
sity of seeing and hearing all this, while taking no 
part in it, made him the more impressible. Hemmed 
in by the soldiers of his regiment, he could not escaj^e 
if he would. His comrades were falling all around 
him from the leaden hail poured into their ranks by 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 193 

the Northern soldiers. He moved about as best he 
could, and others fell in the places which he had just 
left. But he stopped no bullets. He had nothing to 
do but to trust in God and await the end of the terri- 
ble scene. He seemed to possess a charmed life. His 
comrades fell all around him, their places being filled 
by others, who wondered at the strange sight, — a 
man with plain citizen's dress, having neither pistol, 
sword, nor gun, and no military cap nor coat, calmly 
filling his place in battle line, but taking no part in 
battle. 

There was no time for questioning or consideration. 
Action was required of every man. The enemy was 
j)ressing too closely ; the line wavered at the terrible 
onslaught ; they could not hold their ground ; the 
order was given, " Ketreat." 

Our friend Macon knew no enemies, nor was he 
disposed to run from the Yankees ; and as his com- 
pany turned to flee, he calmly lay down upon the 
ground, preferring, doubtless, to fall in the hands 
of the Northern men rather than continue his con- 
nections with those who had so harshly treated him. 
He had not long to wait. The Northern soldiers 
soon discovered him, and were surprised indeed to 
find a man attired like a citizen under such circum- 
stances. 

Peaceful amid it all, no shot had he fired, no part 
had he taken. He was not an enemy, and yet the 
laws of war required that he should be captured as 
a prisoner, and he was soon in Point Lookout prison, 
where in a few days he died, doubtless from mental 



194 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

suffering caused by his being taken from his loved 
ones, and by the terrible scenes of battle. 

No violent death was his ; but a calm, peaceful 
passing away from scenes of strife and the noise of 
battle to the place prepared for him by the Prince of 
Peace in " His Father's House." 



CHAPTER X. 

Let us not weakly weep 
Nor rashly threaten. Give us grace to keep 
Our faith and patience ; wherefore should we leap 
On one hand into fratricidal fight, 
Or, on the other, 3rield eternal right ? 

Whittieb. 

Two brothers, Thomas and Amos Hinshaw, and two 
Barker brothers, Cyrus and Nathan, their cousins, 
were conscripted at the same time and together taken 
to High Point, N. C, then the nearest railroad station 
to their home, thirty-two miles away. These men 
were obliged to make a hurried march before the gun 
and bayonet. Thomas Hinshaw's wife knew that he 
would need food and clothing, so she quickly prepared 
them and started on foot to overtake the company, 
which she did near her father's home, two miles dis- 
tant, where she took leave of her husband and returned 
to her home and little ones, who were now dependent 
on her efforts for support. Faithfully she ploughed 
the fields, hoed the crops, and cared for the home. 

Our Friends with many other conscrij)ts were hur- 
ried away to Camp French, near Black Water, Va. 
At Weldon more men were taken on board, and they 
were so packed, like cattle in freight cars, that they 
could only rest themselves by sitting on one another's 
knees. They were not furnished with food or water 



196 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

for nearly twenty-four hours. The food which was 
brought by Thomas Hinshaw's wife was generously 
shared with his friends, and was a great help to them. 

Our four Friends refused to make choice of any 
part of the service, and were consigned to the 5 2d 
North Carolina regiment, General Pettigrew's brigade. 
They were at once offered equipments and required to 
drill, but were unanimous in declaring their peaceful 
principles. The officers, really desirous of favoring 
them, entreated them to pay the commutation tax, and 
told them their money should be used for civil j)urposes 
only ; but they plead that religious liberty was one of 
the principles of their forefathers, that freedom of 
conscience was the inherent right of men, that war 
and fighting are contrary to the commands of Christ, 
and that liberty of conscience and freedom to obey 
Christ should not be purchased with money. Thoy 
would therefore suffer cheerfully the penalty of the 
law, which they could not, for conscience' sake, obey. 

The colonel, knowing that ai-gument with such men 
was useless, turned them over to Captain James M. 
Kincade, who hardly knew what to do with them, and 
for some time did nothing. Their quiet and consistent 
course won his esteem, and many of the men also 
learned to love them and respect their scruples. But 
the lieutenant under whose immediate charge they 
were placed was determined that they should obey his 
orders, and he thought he could " break them in." It 
became necessary to clear a space of ground for camp- 
ing, and the lieutenant ordered his men to compel 
these men to assist in the work. They were accustomed 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 197 

to clearing ground, and had done much of it for them- 
selves and neighbors, but it was for growing corn and 
wheat and not for military purposes ; and while the 
work itself would have been a relief, they could not 
conscientiously do it ; and, besides, it was on a Sab- 
bath morning. 

The lieutenant was very harsh and ordered his men 
to compel them with guns and bayonets to assist in 
the work, and to run their bayonets through them if 
they did not obey. The men really respected the 
Friends and were slow to move. Some said that they 
had no guns, others that they had no bayonets. Finally 
the lieutenant called two men out and sharply ordered 
them to place their bayonets against the Friends and 
press steadily until they moved ; but these men did 
not have the heart to thrust a bayonet into unarmed, 
peaceable men, so they evaded the order, though they 
made a show of obedience, and wounded the Friends, 
though slightly. 

The captain then appeared, took the lieutenant 
aside and reproached him for such cruelty, and told 
the Friends that they might remain quiet for a time. 
These Friends said that as they trusted in the Lord 
He often turned the hearts of their commanders, and 
even this lieutenant became very kind and considerate 
of their feelings. 

All sorts of work were offered them, and although 
they had no objection to doing work of almost any 
kind, they would not do it as military service. On 
one occasion they were ordered to help bring in some 
corn fodder. There were two objections to this ; it 



198 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

was not only military work, but they had to steal the 
fodder, and of course they declined to obey. They 
were first tied together and then tied to the back of a 
cart, to force them to run or be dragged three or four 
miles on a very cold day. Orders were given to 
" pitch them into the river " if they would not assist 
in loading the fodder. Such orders were more easily 
Sfiven than executed. 

The wagon-master was at first very fierce and angry, 
but as he watched them meekly following the cart 
through mud and water, he relented, sympathized with 
and admired them. He was heard to remark : " I 
declare I cannot help respecting men who stand up 
f»r their principles in that way." No one attempted 
to " pitch them into the river," although they had no 
hand in loading the fodder, but walked back as they 
had come, behind the cart. 

They found upon returning to camp that they had 
a warm welcome by the men of their company, who 
refused to have any further hand in their punishment ; 
and such a feeling was apparent among the men that 
no further attempt was ever made to punish them, nor 
to make them do any military service. They were 
required to accompany the regiment for eight months, 
but were not required to drill. 

Their presence in the army was a continual testi- 
mony against war ; their Christian spirit a wonderful 
evidence of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ ; their 
meekness and gentleness under the most trying cir- 
cumstances a practical illustration of the grace of 
God ; and their evident readiness to die in keeping 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 199 

his conirnandments was an evidence of the highest 
possible faith and obedience. 

It became more and more a question what to do 
with the Quakers, and the wish was repeatedly 
expressed in their hearing, that they would run away. 
They were given to understand that no one would 
pursue them ; but they would not run away from home 
tfj. evade the officers of the army, neither would they 
run away from the army to go home. They were not 
of the runaway kind. 

After four months, they received furloughs for 
fifteen days, and on the back of these was written: 
" These men ai-e of no manner of use in the army." 
While at home the attempt was made to persuade 
them to pay the tax, but it was unavailing. Thomas 
Ilinshaw says : " It was a great temptation for us, 
dreading as we did to return to the camp. On the 
second of third month, 1863, we again took leave of 
our dear families and friends at home, which, I think, 
was as hard a trial as we have ever had to experience. 
The officers and men all seemed glad to see us and 
gave us a cordial welcome. No military duty was 
required of us, not even to answer to roll-call." 

Wearied by the continued inactivity of camp life, 
they longed for some honoral^le relief. The battle of 
Gettysburg, which saved Philadelphia and perhaps 
the Union, bringing though it did suffering and death 
to so many, brought release to our little army of peace 
men. 

Thomas Hinshaw says : " In the beginning of the 
engagement we were ordered to the front, but we had 



200 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

no business there. The second morning orders came 
for all who could walk to go to the battle-field. So 
many had been killed the day before that they needed 
every man. The colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, 
sergeant-major and all the captains of the regiment 
having been either killed, or wounded, our lieutenant 
was in command, and we were taken before him. He 
said he knew we would not fight, but he thought we 
would have to go to the regiment, which was then in 
line of battle. He said he could not blame us so much 
for not fighting, and that we might go just where we 
pleased, so far as he was concerned ; but afterwards 
said that part of the company was wounded and we 
might go to the hospital and stay with them until the 
fight was over. The wounded had been moved and 
he told, us to follow them. We came to a bridge, but 
were not allowed to cross without passes." While at 
the bridge the guards came to take every man to the 
front, and they were taken among several hundred 
others that were trying to cross the bridge and get 
farther from the line of battle. Having concluded 
not to go to the front unless under guard, our Friends 
dropped back and the guard closed up just in front of 
them. They were arrested again, but the second time 
they escaped. Again orders were given that all men, 
except cooks and those detailed, should be taken to 
the front. The officer commanded them to move on 
at once, but privately told the guard that they need 
not take them. Adhering to their resolution not to 
go unless guarded, they were again spared. 

As the end of this day approached, our Friends 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 201 

began to look about for a place to spend the night. 
They sought the camping-place of the night before, 
and on reaching it tliey found a number of soldiers 
who, like themselves, thought to spend the night 
there. News soon came that the regiment to which 
they belonged was retreating. The men they found 
at the camp hurriedly departed to follow, " but we 
did not feel bound to follow them," says Thomas, " or 
think it our duty to do so. We therefore turned to 
the right and traveled some distance. The next 
morning, which was the Sabbath, we went to a house 
and inquired if any of the Society of Friends lived 
in that neighborhood ; and being informed that there 
were some, we went to a house, as directed, and found 
a family of Friends, who were very kind to us. We 
found that we were between the two picket lines, 
and not feeling very well satisfied to run to or from 
either of them, we stayed at the Friend's house nearly 
a week. The Union cavalry then took us as prison- 
ers of war. We were taken to Harrisburg on the 
11th, to Philadelphia on the 13th, and on the 15th 
of ninth month we were placed in Fort Delaware." 
Here we will leave them until we take up the story of 
William Hockett, with whom they were released. 

Solomon Frazier lived in Randolph County, N. C. 
His farm was on Deep river, a little beyond Col- 
traine's mill, from Centre meeting-house. All his 
life he had been associated with the Friends and 
accepted their views concerning war. He did not, 
however, become a member until after the passage 
of the exemption act. He had paid #100 to be ex- 



202 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

empted from the duty of home guard, yet when the 
call came to enroll all men between forty- five and fifty 
years of age, he received several written orders to 
appear at the court-house, but laid them aside and 
went on with his work. One evening in December, 
1864, ten armed men came to his house, arrested him, 
and marched him to Archdale (then Bush Hill), 
where they left him under guard to spend the night 
with his brother. He was then taken to Salisbui-y 
and required to act as guard for the prisoners ; but 
he would not serve, so he was made prisoner in Salis- 
bury prison. 

He was a large, strong man, and they thought he 
might do effective work fighting the Yankees, but 
how to get him to do it was the question. First, the 
bucking-down was resorted to for two hours ; then 
they made him carry a heavy pole for three hours ; at 
night they tied him up as they would a horse or a mule. 
Next morning he was suspended by his hands, instead 
of his thumbs, whether on account of his weight or 
not we cannot say. In this painful position he was 
kept for three hours. They tied a gun to his right 
arm and a heavy piece of wood to his neck. Unable 
to stand longer under the weight of the wood, he sat 
down, resting one end of it upon the ground. A 
soldier immediately pierced him with a bayonet. They 
then bucked him down again, and while in this pain- 
ful position, he says that they proceeded to gag him 
with a bayonet. This was done by throwing his head 
back and putting the bayonet in his mouth, the sharp 
edge pressing the lips as it was tied tightly to the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 203 

back of liis head. In this doubly trying position, 
bucked and gagged, they kept him for the remainder 
of the day. 

As if determined to exhaust every means of j)un- 
ishment, they tied his arms to a beam fastened, to a 
post, like a cross, and raised him upon it in imitation 
of the Christ for whom he suffered. They then put 
upon him what they called a barrel-shirt. They put 
a barrel over his head, and the barrel, not being large 
enough to slip down to the ground, rested in such a 
way as to fasten both arms and legs ; and there he 
was left to stand for hours. 

Solomon Frazier was so meek, and endured all 
their persecutions with such patience, that the captain 
under whose charge he was, got very angry, swore at 
him with most terrible oaths, and told him it was use- 
less to contend further ; he must now take a gun or 
die. While the officer was tying a gun to his arm, 
Solomon remarked to him : " If it is thy duty to 
inflict this punishment upon me, do it cheerfully ; 
don't get angry about it." The captain then left 
him, saying to his men : " If any of you can make 
him fight, do it ; I cannot." 

Two young men now volunteered to make a soldier 
of this Quaker, little knowing the nature of the ma- 
terial which they had to work upon. Coming up to 
him with their guns, they told him that they were 
going to take him off and shoot him. He replied : 
" It is the Sabbath and as good, a day to die as any." 
They took him before Colonel Brooks, who inclined 
to be merciful, and was also disposed to get clear of 



204 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

so troublesome a case. He advised him to consult a 
lawyer, and if possible to procure exemption ; but 
assured him positively that he must take a gun or die. 
Two days' respite from persecution were given him, 
when he was called up and required to take a gun. 
Upon refusing, the gun was tied to his arm and a 
strap fastened around his neck, by which he was 
drao-o-ed around all day. He was made to run around 
in a circle, much as we have seen horsemen train 
horses. The next day they again resorted to the 
bucking, with no better success. 

Isham Cox, a prominent minister among the 
Friends, visited the prison at this time, remonstrated 
with the officials for practicing such cruelty, and ex- 
plained more fully to their understanding the grounds 
of Solomon's faith. Hearing this they concluded that 
it was useless to try to make a soldier of him, and 
ceased to persecute him, though he was retained as a 
prisoner until the surrender of Salisbury, four months 
afterwards. He was then restored to his family, and 
he still lives on the same farm from which he went 
at the time of his conscription, on the banks of Deep 
river, where he rejoices in the peaceful condition of 
the Sunny Southland, and in the fact that he did 
what he could to hasten the day when the sword shall 
be beaten into the plowshare and the spear into the 
pruning-hook. 

Jesse Milton Blair lived not far from Solomon 
Frazier's home. He was arrested about Christmas, 
1864, and taken to Richmond, Va. ; thence to the 
army near Petersburg. He was put in an old tobacco- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 205 

factory, where were many rude men, boisterously 
drinkins: and carousing. For food he was furnished 
with coarse corn bread and molasses, made from 
sorghum grown in the neighborhood. 

The next morning he was told that he must take a 
gun and drill. This he declined to do. Upon ascer- 
taining his position, the officer sternly ordered the men 
to knock him down with the gun. As the soldier 
moved to obey, the officer said : " Hold ; you might 
kill him the first blow. Knock him down with your 
fist." This the soldier did. When he got up the 
soldier said : " Now I reckon you are willing to take 
a gun." He replied : " No ; I have conscientious 
scruples against bearing arms." 

A gun was strapped to his wrists and he was or- 
dered to march, and on refusing to do so was cruelly 
pierced with a bayonet. They then took the straps 
with which the gun had been tied to his arms and 
fastened his thumbs so that he could move his hands 
about two feet apart. They then cut off the limb of 
a tree near by and, lifting him up, put the strap over 
the stump of this limb, thus hanging 'him by the 
thumbs. He was suspended so that his feet just 
touched the ground. It was a cold day in December ; 
it was snowing and sleeting ; yet for two hours they 
allowed this man to suffer in this way. Meantime 
the officer walked around smoking a cigar, occasion- 
ally asking Jesse Blair if he would fight. Finally a 
stone was placed under his feet and he was allowed 
to stand upon it long enough to answer whether or 
not he would now obey orders. But Jesse was still 



206 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

faithful, so the officer said to the men around him : 
" Well, we will give him a whipping." With the gun 
still tied to him, he was led to the place chosen for 
the terrible castigation. The officer ordered away all 
the men but one, and then commanded Jesse to re- 
move his clothes. He says : " I was slow about taking 
off my clothes ; I reckon you would have been." The 
officer hurriedly and rudely bared his back to the 
waist and then said : " Now you must take one hun- 
dred lashes on your bare back or fight." " I reckon 
I shall have to take them," was the reply. One hun- 
dred good-sized hickory switches were gathered and 
laid in bundles of ten each. Jesse was made to reach 
around a tree and his hands were fastened too-ether, 
thus tightening the muscles of the shoulders ; and the 
cruel work of trying to whip him into a soldier began. 
One switch was used for each stroke and then tossed 
aside, another being handed the officer, who paused 
frequently to ask if Jesse would obey his captain. 
But our Friend replied that he recognized the author- 
ity of no other captain save Jesus Christ, and his 
orders were, " Thou shalt not kill ; " and that he 
should do nothing to advance the interests of the war. 
Jesse tried to keep account of the strokes as they fell 
heavily on his back ; but the suffering became so 
severe that he was unable to do so. All the switches 
were used, and as he was untied Jesse reached his 
hand behind him, finding the flesh badly cut and the 
blood flowing freely down his body. Still our heroic, 
suffering Friend refused to take the gun offered him. 
The enraged officer said : " I am just going to hang 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 207 

you and be done with it, and then they will not send 
any more of the d — d Quakers here unless they mean 
to fight." 

Jesse had enlisted under the banner of the Prince 
of Peace, and would not turn traitor nor renounce his 
Master's cause, — no, not for his life ; and so he 
meekly went with his persecutor to the tree selected 
upon which to hang him. One end of that same 
leather strap was now fastened around the neck of 
our unresisting soldier of the Cross, and the other 
end thrown over a large limb, which was bent down 
and the strap fastened to it. As the limb was re- 
leased it gradually resumed nearly its normal posi- 
tion, raising Jesse with it clear of the ground. He 
was now suspended by the neck, his body turning in 
the air and the strap twisting, reminding him, as he 
afterwards said, of the twisting of strings he had seen 
cats hung by when he was a boy. 

He soon became too weak to answer their questions, 
and could only respond to their demands to take a 
gun by a slight negative movement of the head. 
Finally the officer and his men j)ulled down the limb, 
unfastened the strap, and Jesse fell helpless upon the 
ground. When the officer found that he could not 
stand he called for camphor, and Jesse heard him 
say : " He may die and we cannot get to punish him 
any more." He was carried to the barracks and laid 
upon some straw. A doctor was called, who on the 
second day told him that he was about to be very 
sick. He was soon taken in an ambulance to the 
camp near Petersburg, then by steamer to Richmond, 



208 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

where he was for a long time unable to turn himself 
in bed or help himself in any way. 

One day he thought he heard a familiar voice, and 
upon listening heard his own name called. Then he 
heard clearly the words : " Is there any one here by 
the name of J. M. Blair?" Summoning all his 
strength he succeeded in turning himself enough to 
see across the room the familiar face of his friend 
Joseph Hockett, a Friend minister from his own 
meeting at Springfield. He feebly answered the call 
and the eager searcher was soon by the side of his 
rude hospital couch. Touched as only loving hearts 
can be by the bond of suffering and sympath}^ the 
tvip brothers, so united in Christian faith and love, 
wept together. 

Thirty years and more have passed since their 
tears mingled upon that couch of suffering. The min- 
ister's fountain of tears is forever dried, and only 
rejoicing is known by him, for he has been gathered 
from the earthly to the heavenly home ; yet at the 
memory of that visit and expression of Christian love 
under such circumstances of trial and suffering, when 
there had been " no eye to pity and no hand to save," 
— except the Omnipotent One, — Jesse's heart was 
moved with deep emotion as he told the story of that 
manifestation of brotherly love, and his eye was filled 
with tears and his heart with gratitude. 

Three long months he lay in that liospital, and was 
then sent, in March, 1865, to the camp. But the 
Confederacy was weakening ; the army was moving 
southward ; and Jesse, emaciated, weak and feeble. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 209 

walked with it toward his home. For three days and 
nights he was entirely without food. On arriving at 
a farmhouse they found a quantity of corn locked in 
a crib. Wliile the soldiers rested on their arms, the 
farmer was asked for the key. He knew that he 
would receive nothing for his corn, and was naturally 
slow to give it to them. He was told that they would 
have the corn if they had to tear down the building 
to get it, and finally he threw the key to them. Three 
ears of corn were given to each man. Jesse M. Blair 
picked off a few kernels and ate them raw. He said 
afterwards that they " tasted mighty sweet." As the 
men were parching their corn, the Yankee soldiers 
rushed upon them, and all who could rushed away. 
Jesse saved his corn and ate it as he went. The next 
day Lee surrendered to Grant, but Jesse kept on his 
way homeward, wearily tramping day after day, living 
as best he could from the scanty provisions kindly 
furnished him by those along the way. 

Finally the long journey was completed, and he 
rested with the loved ones whom he had not seen for 
so long, recounting to them his experiences and the 
trials he had undei'gone for the testimony of peace. 

Now, more than threescore and ten years of age, 
he sits in the chimney-corner of his Southern home, 
and with the buffetings and trials of his life in the 
background and the bright rays of the setting sun 
already lighting the pathway to the land beyond, he 
is able to say, as he rests in the blessed hope of the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ : " The hand of my God is 
good upon me." 



210 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Marlboro meeting of Friends is in the western part 
of Randoli)h County, N. C. It was organized many 
years ago, a church in the wilderness, but the princi- 
ples of peace had been firmly planted and carefully 
cultivated. The people listened regularly to the 
query from their discipline, from quarter to quarter, 
from year to year, generation after generation : " Are 
Friends clear of bearing arms or other military 
matters ? " It was important to have this, as well 
as other subjects queried after, answered " clear." 
When the time came that many of the members were 
taken to the army by force of arms, these queries 
were still read, and the overseers were expected to 
produce answers for absent members as well as for 
those at home. 

Jesse Hill, William Hill, D. W. Milliken, Clark 
Milliken, William F. Ball, John R. Beckerdike, Seth 
W. Loflin, and others of their members were taken 
for soldiers ; but they could not in duty to their Lord 
be soldiers in this sense. As soldiers of Jesus Christ 
they expected to be loyal, and had accepted the Bible 
teaching, " Ye cannot serve two masters." The fol- 
lowing letter, written to their meeting at home, is 
of interest : 

" 0th month, Gth day, 1864. 

"To THE Society of Friends of Marlboro 
AND Springfield Meetings: You are no doubt 
wondering where we are and what we are doing. We 
are in the intrenchments near Petersburg, in Com- 
pany F, 27th regiment. Wc have thus far refused 
to take any part in military duty, for which we are 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 211 

receiving severe punishment; such as being tied up 
by the thumbs, deprived of sleep, etc. They say we 
must suffer until we drill. We still expect, by the 
grace of God and the help of your prayers, to be faith- 
ful to our profession. 

" We are sorry to have to ask Friends to be at so 
much trouble for us, but our condition is a sad one. 
We think that if some one could come and give a 
little more explanation, something could be done for 
us. We want the authorities of the meeting or some 
one to write to the Secretary of War immediately. 

" We still have our certificates and other papers 
that we brought from home. 

" Yours in bonds of love, 

S. W. LOFLIN, 

J. A. Hill." 

Others of the members of this meeting suffered 
severely for their principles, but we will now follow 
our friend Seth W. Loflin in his time of trial. 

He had been a member with the Friends but a 
short time, when he was arrested as a conscript and 
sent to camp near Petersburg, Va. He was at once 
ordered to take up arms, which he refused to do, say- 
ing that the weapons of the Christian were not carnal, 
and that he was a Christian and forbidden to fio-ht. 
The officers evidently thought that by prompt and 
severe measures he could be made to yield his con- 
scientious scruples, but they knew not of what spirit 
he was. 

First they kept him without sleep for thirty-six 



212 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

hours, a soldier standing by with a bayonet to pierce 
him, should he fall asleep. Finding that this did 
not overcome his scruples, they proceeded for three 
hours each day to buck him down. He was then sus- 
pended by his thumbs for an hour and a half. This 
terrible ordeal was passed through with each day for 
a week. Then, thinking him conquered, they offered 
him a gun ; but he was unwilling to use the weapon. 
Threats, abuse and persecution were alike unavailing, 
and in desperate anger the Colonel ordered him court- 
martialed. After being tried for insubordination he 
was ordered shot. Preparations were accordingly 
made for the execution of this terrible sentence. The 
army was summoned to witness the scene, and soldiers 
were detailed. Guns, six loaded with bullets and six 
without, were handed to twelve chosen men. Seth 
Loflin, as calm as any man of the immense number 
surrounding him, asked time for prayer, which, of 
course, could not be denied him. The supposition 
was natural that he wished to pray for himself. But 
he was ready to meet his Lord ; and so he prayed not 
for himself but for them : " Father, forgive them, for 
they know not what they do." 

Strange was the effect of this familiar prayer upon 
men used to taking human life and under strict mili- 
tary orders. Each man, however, lowered his gun, 
and they resolutely declared that they would not shoot 
such a man, thereby braving the result of disobeying 
military orders. But the chosen twelve were not the 
only ones whose hearts were touched. He who hold- 
eth our lives in his hand melted the hearts of the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 213 

officers as well, and the sentence was revoked. He 
was led away to j^rison, where for weeks he suffered 
uncomplainingly from his severe punishments. 

He was finally sent to Windsor Hospital at Rich- 
mond, Va., where he was taken very sick, and after a 
long", severe illness, during which his Christian spirit 
and patience won the hearts of all around him, he 
quietly passed away, leaving a wife and seven children. 
A letter was written to his wife by one of the officers, 
an extract from which may be a fitting close to the 
account of this worthy man's suffering. 

" It is my painful duty to inform you that Seth W. 
Loflin died at Windsor Hospital, at Richmond, on 
the 8th of December, 1864. He died as he had lived, 
a true, humble and devoted Christian ; true to his 
faith and religion. . . . We pitied and sympathized with 
him. . . . He is rewarded for his fidelity, and is at 
rest." 



CHAPTER XI. 

For who that leans on His right arm 

Was ever yet forsaken ? 

What righteous cause can suffer harm 

If He its part has taken ? 

Though wild and loud 

And dark the cloud, 

Behind its folds 

His hand upholds 

The calm sky of to-morrow ! 

Whittier. 

• 

Men are so constituted that those of similar tastes, 
habits, callings antl religious beliefs are very sure, as 
a rule, to form themselves into lodges, leagues, guilds, 
societies and even communities. The Friends are apt 
to gather into rather distinctive neighborhoods ; not 
absolutely so, as do the Shakers, neither do they have 
all things in common as does that body, but for privi- 
leges of fellowship and convenience of meeting to 
worship God, they natiu^ally gather in neighborhoods. 

The Friends make it the habit of their lives to 
go up to the house of the Lord at least twice a 
week. They care for the education of their children, 
and in the South, where the public school system 
had been very deficient and general education much 
neglected, they had a schoolhouse near every meeting- 
house. 

"We have already learned of Holly Spring and 




W -5 



= :^ 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 215 

Marlboro neighborhoods. West of Ashboro and south 
of Marlboro is a community called Back Creek neioh- 
borhood. The zealous home guard, anxious for 
others to go to the front, were hunting here for con- 
scripts and endeavoring to secure every man who 
could possibly be made to serve the Confederacy. 

We have the names of twenty-nine of the Friends 
gathered by these hunters at different times, from this 
little country church. For one of them a relative sent 
a substitute ; some were assigned to the salt-works ; 
some paid for substitutes to work there ; but sooner or 
later twenty-two paid the tax. Much suffering was 
experienced by exposure from " lying out " and per- 
secutions of various kinds, before relief could be ob- 
tained. Much property was taken from William Low 
and other Friends, — horses, cattle and provisions, 
without recompense. 

Deep River neighborhood is situated about thirty- 
five miles north of Back Creek, and here, since about 
1695, the Friends have met regularly twice a week. 
First there was a log house ; then a frame building 
with ^veather-boards fastened on with wrought nails, 
each hammered out by the blacksmith's hand. The 
floor was fastened down with oak pins. This house 
was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers durino- 
the Revolution, and blood-marks were said to have 
been visible on its walls when it gave place to a more 
modern brick structure. 

The large house had at one time been too small for 
the congregation assembling there, and wing-like 
sheds had been added to each end of the buildino-. 



216 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

with doors from the outside. Three logs were cut 
from the end walls of the main building to make an 
opening and connection with the large audience room. 
When not needed, these openings were closed by 
board shutters hung from the top with large wooden 
hinges. The seats were so arranged that the congre- 
gation would be mainly at the preacher's right and 
left. 

There had been no provision made for heating, as 
it was thought at that time to be unnecessary ; but of 
later times the more aggressive Friends wanted a fire 
"during meeting-time." The objections of the con- 
servative Friends were so far overcome that a stove 
was placed in the main meeting-room. Stovepipe was 
not abundant in those early days, and as little as pos- 
sible must be used ; so a hole was cut through the thin 
wooden ceiling and the pipe extended through that 
into the loft. At each end of the gable a clapboard 
was removed, and a draft thus created. There seemed 
to be no fear of sparks igniting the roof. This was 
the only means ever provided for heating the house. 

An amusing story is told of the experience of one 
person on the first meeting-day after the objectionable 
stove had been introduced. An elderly Friend who 
had been opposed to the innovation was manifestly 
uncomfortable during; meetinof-time. So warm was he 
that he perspired freely. When meeting was over he 
complained of the heat from that stove having been 
so oppressive, and said that he had never suffered so 
much from the cold in meeting as he had that day 
from the heat. He was much surprised when told 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 217 

that there had been no fire in the stove. No further 
complaint was heard concerning the innovation. 

But, primitive or progressive, they were of one 
mind concerning war, and the teachings of Mahlon 
Hockett, Jeremiah Hubbard and many others there 
had ever been that the friends of Jesus must keep 
his commandments, and that He told them to love 
their enemies. 

At the time of which we write there was no need 
of the wooden shutters being opened into the added 
wings of the meeting-house, for by death and emigra- 
tion most of the members had been removed. Still 
there were too many left to be overlooked by the Con- 
federate authorities. Thirteen men were arrested, 
seven of whom were exempted upon payment of the 
five hundred dollar tax, and three for other reasons. 
There were three brothers named Jones who had been 
all their lives under the Friends' teaching, but had not 
been received into membership until after the passage 
of the exemption act. In 1863 they were all con- 
scripted. Still they remained quietly at home, not 
even hiding In the woods. Their protest against 
bearing arms was of course unheeded, and they were 
sent to Orange Court House, Va., where they were 
ordered Into the ranks, but refused to obey. The 
officer, thinking to make short work of it, immedi- 
ately clubbed the gun offered to J. M. Jones, and 
knocked him down, cutting a long gash in his head, 
from which the blood flowed freely. Upon attempt- 
ing to rise he was struck again, a terrible blow cut- 
ting his ear nearly off. But still friend Jones had no 



218 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

inclination to fight, nor would he take the gun in his 
hand. Persisting in his refusal, he was again knocked 
down, and for some time lay bleeding. Becoming 
convinced that he would sooner be killed than bear 
arms, the officer sent him to prison and began to try 
to conquer the second hero, A. Jones, who had wit- 
nessed the abuse and the blood of his brother. They 
took the bayonet in his case, and pressing it into the 
flesh an inch or more, concluded that though they run 
it through him he would never surrender ; so they 
sent him to prison also and tried the third. Their 
success with the other two had not been very flatter- 
ing, and they began less resolutely, evidently with less 
hope of conquering. Although they punished him 
severely, they did not wound him as they had his 
brothers. 

Soon after this the three brothers were sent to the 
Rapidan, under General Scales's command, where 
new trials awaited them. Here the American officers 
exhausted their means of punishment and turned their 
victims over to a cruel German, who made his boast 
that he "could make soldiers of them Quakers." 
Various kinds of abuse and threats of death were 
alike unavailing, and the scruples of our soldiers of 
the Army of Peace could not be overcome. They 
could suffer or die, but by no means be conquered. 

The starving process was then begun, and they 
were ordered to be kept in close confinement for 
three days and nights, without food or water. It 
was made a court-martial offense for any one to give 
them relief. There was a Kentucky soldier, how- 



• SOUTHERN HEROES. 219 

ever, whose sympathy for them was so great that he 
nobly risked punishment in order to furnish them 
with water. The three days being ended, they were 
of the same opinion still, and the bucking-down was 
resorted to. Weakened by starvation and other trials, 
they were in no condition, physically, to endnre the 
terrible ordeal of this, and the added strain of three 
to four hours in the heat of the Southern sun. The 
mind of the youngest gave way, and he became quite 
delirious. He was sent to the hospital for treatment, 
and on recovering was sent again to camp. 

The committee from the meeting for sufferings, 
being informed of the arrest of these brothers, under- 
took to secure their release ; but the wheels of official 
authority revolve slowly. Sometimes, however, they 
can be made to move, and after a long time the com- 
mittee succeeded in obtaining an ordbr for their dis- 
charge. The following are copies of the original 
papers issued : 

CONFEDEBATE StATES OF AmERICA, 

War Department, 
Richmond, Va., January 19, 1864. 

Mr. John B. Crenshaw, Richmond, Va. 

Sir, — You are respectfully informed that the Ad- 
jutant and Inspector-General has been directed to 
authorize the discharge of J. M., A. W., & D. H. 
Jones, members of the " Society of Friends," as 
recommended, and on the conditions prescribed. 
Your obedient servant, 

James A. Seddon, 

Secretary of War. 



220 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office, 
Richmond, January 22, 1864. 
(Extract) 

Special Orders, \ 
No. 18. ) 

XXVII. The following - named privates being 
members of the Society of Friends, and each having 
paid into the treasury the sum of five hundred dol- 
lars as required by law, will be discharged the service 
of the Confederate States. 

Jackson M. Jones, Co. — , 13th N. C. Vols. 
By command of the Secretary of War, 
Jno. Withers, 
Assistant Adjutant-General. 

Private Jackson M. Jones, 
Through Mr. Crenshaw. 

Adjutant and Inspector-General's Office, 

Richmond, January 22, 1864. 

(Extract) 

Special Orders, I 
No. 18. J 

XXVII. The following - named privates being 
members of the Society of Friends, and each having 
paid into the treasury the sum of five hundred dol- 
lars as required by law, will be discharged the ser- 
vice of the Confederate States. 

Anderson W. Jones, Co. — , 13th N. C. Vols. 
By command of the Secretary of W^ar, 
Jno. Withers, 
Assistant Adjutant-General. 

Private Anderson W. Jones, 
Through Mr. Crenshaw. 



/ 
SOUTHERN HEROES. 221 

About forW miles west of the Deep River neigh- 
borhood is Deep Creek meeting-house, in Yadkin 
County, N. C. The Friends here coidd more easily 
cross the lines tlian those who lived in the lower 
counties, and maite their way west over the moun- 
tains. Many did so, and there were few left who 
were liable to be conscripted. By diligent searching 
the officers found sixteen members of these three 
little churches, — Forbush and Deep Creek in Yadkin 
County and Hunting Creek in Iredell County, — who 
were liable to mil-tary duty. 

Stephen Hobsun was in the iron business. The 
supply from Pen^isylvania and other places was cut 
off from the South, and home production must be 
encouraged ; so nine of the Friends were detailed to 
work in the minos. James Hutchinson paid the tax 
without leaving' home. Thomas A. Benbow was 
taken to Raleigii and kept in camp for about three 
months. Refusir. ^ to do any military duty, he was 
allowed to pay the tax and go home, Enoch Crisco, 
who had been received after the passage of the law, 
was released upoi^ the payment of the tax. In a letter 
to John B. Crer i;liaw, dated 6th month 23d, 1864, 
Isham Cox says : 

" I went to States villa some time ago to see the 
enrolling officer in behalf of fourteen young men who 
had, since |",he passage of the exemption act, joined 
our society at Deep Creek, in Yadkin County, but 
failed to get his approval, though he referred them to 
Colonel Mallett, who refused to notice them until the 
local officers had passed upon them. I anticipate 



\ 

222 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

going up next week to give the enrolMng officer an- 
other trial, and if I fail again, the pr^rties are anxious 
that I should appeal to the BureOcU of Conscription, 
if, by it, there would be any hope of success. Please 
give me thy views relating thereto. 

^ ISHAM Cox." 

These young men were taken from home and en- 
dured much suffering. One of them, Lewis Caudle, 
was taken to the front, terribly pe^fsecuted, and with 
a gun tied to him, he was made to enter battle and 
stand amid the contending forces ; but he would take 
no part in the terrible conflict. No bullet reached 
him, although many around him were slain. The 
Southern forces were oblig-ed to retrciat, but Lewis did 
not care to go with them, so he lay down upon the 
battlefield, with the wounded, dying ■ and dead around 
him. Falling asleep, he lay thei-e until morning. 
His comrades being gone, he saw fto reason why he 
should remain in the army, and so l|)egan his long and 
lonesome march to his mountain home. He reached 
it in due time, and was not obliged t;o return ; nor was 
he further molested. Isham Cox j^ad John B. Cren- 
shaw induced the officers to accept the $500 tax 
foi' him. 

At New Garden, six miles west of Greensboro, 
Guilford County, a Friends' meeting had been held, 
and for more than a century the yearly meeting an- 
nually held its seven days' session there. The mem- 
bership of the local church had become much reduced 
by emigration, and there were really very few Friends 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 223 

to claim the attention of the home guard or any- 
body else. Nine men of legal age for the war were 
found amons: them. For two of them substitutes 
were furnished by their friends, who were not mem- 
bers ; but, notwithstanding this, they were required 
to pay the tax or go to war, so they paid the tax. 
One, Isaac Harvey, after having been for some weeks 
in camp, enduring the hardships and trial of his faith 
and loyally bearing his testimony, became discouraged 
and began to doubt his Lord's care and faithfulness. 
He yielded to the demands made by the authorities, 
accepted the bovmty money and military equipments, 
and, trusting in carnal weapons rather than in the 
mighty weapons of the soldier of Jesus Christ, he 
entered the ranks of the Confederate army. He was 
promptly disowned by his meeting at home as soon as 
it became known. Soon afterwards he entered a 
battle. He was one of the first, if not the first, to be 
killed. 

This was the only instance that has come to our 
knowledge of a Southern Friend abandoning his 
principles, and we believe there was no other. The 
result of this one case makes even more striking the 
remarkable preservation from violent death of all 
those who, under such trying circumstances, main- 
tained their allegiance to the Prince of Peace, and for 
whom He so remarkably cared. 

In Chatham County, N. C, there were a number 
of Friends' meetings. Spring meeting we have 
already alluded to, in giving the experiences of Jesse 
Buckner. The neighbors at whom he wondered, 



224 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

when lie was a military colonel, because they would 
not train in the company, did not entirely escape per- 
secution. Nathaniel Woody, an elder, sitting at the 
head of Spring meeting, was drafted early in the war. 
When ordered to appear at Graham, the county seat 
of Chatham County, he answered to his name, and 
then told the officer that he could not bear arms, giv- 
ing his reasons. Being very near the age limit, he 
was released. 

James Lindley, of South Fork meeting, was drafted, 
and his friends, not members, hired a substitute for 
him. Jesse Osborn was conscripted and taken to the 
army, but he would take no part in the military ser- 
vice. He became sick and was taken to the hos- 
pital in Kichmond, where he soon died. 

John Newlin was a cotton manufacturer, owning 
factories at Saxapahaw. As he had six sons of legal 
age for conscription, he paid the government |3000 for 
their exemption. It was soon discovered that the law 
exempted Friends between the ages of seventeen and 
eighteen and forty-five and fifty, and not as Friends 
had petitioned, and understood the War Department 
to grant, from seventeen to fifty. Friends were very 
sure that they had made the matter clear, and that 
the Secretary of War understood it; but however 
that may have been, the army officers claimed as 
soldiers all between the ages of eighteen and forty- 
five, and Friends were put to much trouble on that 
account. Many were taken into the army and abused 
severely after they had paid the tax in good faith, 
and had received exemption papers from the War 
Department. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 225 

Two sons of our friend Newlln were taken. He 
entered his protest, and with the assistance of John 
B. Crenshaw and others the department was finally 
induced to correct the papers. Thus the original 
agreement was carried out, much to the relief of many 
who had been conscripted and were suffering for 
their testimony. 

Zeno Woody was conscripted, but was taken very 
sick, and was sent to the hospital at Raleigh. He 
was kept here for several weeks and then sent home 
on sick furlough. James and Mahlon Woody were 
conscripted and taken to Richmond, where they were 
required to choose what part of the Confederate ser- 
vice they would enter. They did not choose any 
part, and were imprisoned. Prison fare did not agree 
with these men, accustomed as they were to outdoor 
life and plenty to eat, and they were taken sick. 
They were sent to the hospital, and their father went 
there to wait upon them. After some weeks they 
were also given a furlough. 

William Woody was taken to the army, where he 
promptly accepted the gun offered him, and went 
with it to the Yankees. He gave the gun to them 
and went on to Indiana, without performing any mili- 
tary service. James Newlin went to the salt-works. 
Zeno and James Woody were again arrested, but their 
father paid the tax for them and his two other sons, 
amounting to $2000. 

Three brothers from this county. Miles, William 
and Stephen Hobson, concluded, soon after the begin- 
ning of the war, to make their way, with their fam- 



226 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

ilies, by wagon, to Indiana. They had disposed of 
their effects, and one bright morning they left their 
homes, sacred to them from lifetime associations, but 
where they could no longer live in undisturbed pos- 
session. At night they had made a goood day's jour- 
ney toward the West ; preparations had been made to 
sleep in the wagon by the roadside ; suj^per had been 
cooked, and they were enjoying it as only wagoners 
can, when the sheriff of the county and a posse of 
men surrounded them, claiming to have orders for the 
arrest of the whole party on account of some remarks 
Stephen had made against the Southern Confederacy. 
They were all taken back and Stephen was bound 
over to appear at court when called to answer the 
charge ; but we do not learn that he was ever called 
for. Joseph John Hobson and James Woody, who 
were of the party, were also bound to appear at court 
on a certain day, but not being summoned, Joseph 
started west again, with other Friends, and they all 
succeeded in reaching their destination. 

Stephen Hobson, who had been arrested while on 
his way west, was conscripted and sent to the army, 
although he had jjald his $500 for exemption. He 
was sent to camp near Drury's Bluff, Va., from which 
place he was released, after months of trial, pre- 
sumably on account of having had a broken arm 
and thigh. 

Mahlon Thompson and Joshua Kemp thought to 
make their way across the mountains, and after avoid- 
ing as much as possible contact with mankind and 
enduring much from exposure, they were just about 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 227 

crossing tlie Tennessee line, where they thought they 
would be safe, when they were surprised by the ap- 
pearance of army officers. They were arrested and 
sent directly to the army, and marched at once into 
the battle of Fredericksburg. They would not take 
guns or do any military work, but seeing the need of 
helping the wounded, they voluntarily engaged in 
carrying them from the battlefield, risking their own 
lives ; but neither of them was wounded. Being 
found " of no manner of use " as soldiers, they were 
finally released upon the payment of $500 each. 

In the neighborhood of Cane Creek, Chatham 
County, lived Joseph Dixon, a man too old to be 
conscripted, well known in the county, and of good 
estate. He owned a grist mill, and one day while he 
was at work there about forty mounted men came 
up who professed to be searching for disloyal men. 
The miller, Alexander Russell, had two sons who were 
fearing conscription, and " lying out." The men at 
once seized Russell, tied a rope round his neck and 
rode off to the woods, pulling him after them. Hearing 
the screams of the miller's wife and children, Joseph 
Dixon walked out of the mill to remonstrate with the 
men. They immediately put him under guard and 
marched him to an old barn about a mile away. 
They asked him if he knew where Russell's boys 
were, and, upon receiving a negative reply, they swore 
they would make him know. Four of the men took 
him inside the barn, tied a rope around his neck, made 
him step on a box, threw the rope over a beam and 
proceeded to draw him up, saying : " You are a d — d 



228 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Quaker anyway, and by your people refusing to fight 
and keeping so many out of the war you are the cause 
of the defeat of the South." As they tightened the 
rope they said to him : " Now, you have only five 
minutes to live ; if you have any prayers to offer, be 
quick about it." The good old man told them that 
he was innocent and could adopt the language of his 
Saviour : " Father, forgive them ; they know not what 
they do." They then searched his pockets and found 
about thirty dollars in bank bills, which they took 
away. They told him they would not hang him just 
then, but they compelled him to get under the horse- 
trough in the stable, and threatened to shoot him if 
he looked up. They then brought in the miller and 
hung him three times. Joseph could plainly hear 
him strangling the third time. He then promised to 
try to get his boys to come from their hiding-place, 
and was released. 

After the miller was gone Joseph Dixon was told 
that they were going to bring some more " Tories " 
and hang them, and declared that they would shoot 
him if he left the stable. They went directly to 
Micajah McPherson's, a good Methodist man, and 
hung him by the neck until he was unconscious. They 
left him for dead, but some one cut him down in time 
to save his life. The next night, having found one of 
the miller's sons, John Burgess, they hung him and 
remained near until they were sure he was dead, and 
then told his friends that they might take the body to 
bury it. 

Such was the condition of things in many parts of 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 229 

the South near the close of the war. Human life was 
easily taken because men had become accustomed and 
hardened to bloodshed. Many such instances as the 
above could be cited, but care is needed not to multiply 
cases of the same nature, lest we become monotonous 
and the reader wearied of the recital. 

AVe will consider the last days of our friend Joseph 
Dixon, as the closing scene of this chapter. He lived 
not far from the creek before named, near the Friends' 
meeting-house of the same name, Cane Creek. His 
children settled aroimd him, taking their share of 
church and public responsibilities, while he and his 
lovino- wife, Rebecca, looked after their own home and 
needs and did what they could for the interests of the 
church. Their house was the home of the ministers 
visiting the neighborhood. Many Friends from the 
North were led to visit their brethren in the South, 
bearing not only good tidings of peace but " metallic 
sympathy " for the building up of the ruined homes 
and schools, and aiding the unfortunate in various 
ways. 

None welcomed more cordially those who came in 
the name of the Lord than did Joseph and Eel:)ecca 
Dixon, and none aided them in their mission of love 
more readily than they did. For several years Joseph 
was permitted to see prosperity attending the once 
persecuted and impoverished company of Friends at 
Cane Creek. But he was growing old ; his work was 
done, and well done. The time had come for him to 
go to the Father whom he had served in his day and 
generation, for whom he had not refused to die, and 



230 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

whom he was now ready to meet face to face. One 
morning he arose, stirred the coals in the okl firephxce, 
removed the ashes, and putting on dry wood soon had 
a cheerful fire for Rebecca to dress by. She soon 
came and sat down beside him, and turning calmly 
and lovingly to her he said: "Rebecca, my time has 
come to go home. My work on earth is done, and the 
Lord has called for me. To-night I shall be with 
him in glory." 

In telling the writer of it afterwards, Rebecca said : 
" That day was the happiest we ever spent, and it was 
spent in the full belief that it was our last on earth 
together." 

During the day he performed his regular tasks, and 
in the afternoon he shaved, dressed, and lay down to 
die. His two sons soon came in, but he had calmly 
resigned his spirit to God who gave it. 

At the funeral a large concourse of people gathered, 
and many were ready to tell of the Christian character 
and good works of Uncle Joseph, whom God loved 
and took unto himself, as a shock of corn fully ripe. 



CHAPTER XII. 

" O brother ! if thine eye can see, 
Tell how and when the end shall be, 
What hope remains for thee and me." 

Then Freedom sternly said : " I shun 
No strife nor pang beneath the sun, 
When human rights are staked and won." 

Whittier. 

" Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth 
him out of them all." 

About twelve miles from Greensboro, Guilford 
County, N. C, on liis farm near the Friends' meeting- 
house, lived, with his wife and little ones, a man 
named William B. Hockett. He had never known 
any other dwelling-place but this and his boyhood 
home, almost in sight, where his father then lived. 
His devoted wife and their two children were the joy 
of his heart. He was at peace with God and man, 
and had made it the rule of his life to meet with his 
friends twice each week for public worship, crossing 
for this purpose the little stream between his home 
and the old log meeting-house upon the hill. He was 
thirty-six years old at the time of which we write, and 
on the 28th day of 2d month, 1863, he wrote in his 
Journal kept at that time, and now by his kindness in 
the hands of the writer : " This is my birthday. May 
this day be spent more to the glory of God and the 



232 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

spreading of His truth than my former years have 
been, is the jjrayer of my heart." 

The condition of the country was a cause of sorrow 
to him. In one place he has written : " When I 
review the past year and see that the rulers of the land 
have plunged us into a war with all its horrors, my 
heart is troubled and my prayers are i)ut up for the 
deliverance of my people. The rulers have turned 
aside and set a stumbling-block in the way of the in- 
nocent. Our opposers mock and scoff at us, but 
we look to Thee, O Lord, and to Thee alone for help ! 
Thou art our shepherd and shield, our comfort and 
stay!" 

AVilliam Hockett was first conscripted 9th month 
27th, 1862, and taken to Greensboro, the county-seat 
of his county. He was furloughed home until the 
first of the next month, when he presented himself to 
the authorities, according to promise. A second 
time he was allowed to return home, and then he went 
as'ain to Greensboro, and from there was sent to Ea- 
leis'li. Through the influence of Colonel Coble he 
was furloujrhed home from here until called for. 

As we have seen, he was concerned for the welfare 
of his country. He was trusting in God, and although 
he was as yet permitted to remain at home, he was 
aware of his liability to be arrested upon any day. 
Several times he had answered the summons of the 
military authorities to appear at Greensboro and Ra- 
leigh, but was allowed to return home, probably on 
account of his being hard of hearing. He has re- 
corded in his journal that some time before the time 




WILLIAM B. HOCKETT 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 233 

came for him to go to the army " I was shown a vision 
that I would be carried off to the war and have to 
suffer many things. The thought of leaving my wife 
with a bahe in her arms and family unprovided for 
distressed me very much, and I plead that the way 
might be made for me to stay with them." But he 
adds : "I was clearly shown that it was the will of the 
Lord that I should leave all, and that he would be a 
husband to my wife and a father to my children, and 
that they should lack nothing in my absence ; that if 
I was obedient to manifest duty, I should return with 
the reward of peace and find all well. This made 
me cry : ' Not my will, but Thine, O Lord, be done ! ' 
My dear partner strengthened me, saying : ' Be faith- 
ful, William, for I would rather hear of thy dying 
a martyr for Christ's sake than that thou shoidd sin 
against him by staying with me.' So on the eighth 
day of sixth month, 1863, we bade each other fare- 
well." 

Before he was taken away a neighbor said to him : 
" You have no hope now of escajaing the war unless 
you pay out. You have a young horse there for which 
I will give you iSOO. I will turn the horse over to 
the government and get my money back, and you can 
give the money to the officers and remain quietly at 
home." But William's conscience would not allow 
him to do this. 

On the 30th of May he was conscripted by the 
Raleigh guard and taken to a Methodist meeting- 
house called the " Tabernacle," which was used as a 
rendezvous for conscripted men. Here he was fur- 



234 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

loughed until June 8th, 1863, when he reported at 
Greensboro according to orders. lie was offered the 
i)rivilege of " paying out," which he told the officers 
he could not conscientiously do, as the money was to 
be used to carry on war, and the servant of God 
should not fight nor uphold fighting. He said : " I 
believe true Christianity and war as far apart as 
Heaven and Hell." 

He was promptly sent to Camp Holmes, Kaleigh, 
where he was offered clothing, which he refused. He 
was assigned to the 21st N. C. regiment, supposed to 
be stationed then in the northern part of Virginia. 
Starting the next morning he arrived at Petersburg 
'the following day just before daylight and was hurried 
on to Richmond. In company with thirty other con- 
scripts he was marched over to the North Carolina 
Soldiers' Home. " Here," he says, " I found time to 
write to my wife," and he makes this record in his 
diary : " I have been closely tried to-day, but the Lord 
has spoken peace to my soul this evening, which fills 
my heart with joy unspeakable. Praise to His ex- 
cellent name, henceforth and forever ! " 

AYilliam Hockett and his companions, none of whom 
he knew except A. C. Swain, were now hurried on to 
join the great division of the Southern army that had 
invaded Pennsylvania under General Lee. They had 
left Culpepper Court House on their way to join their 
regiment, and in his diary is the brief entry : " My 
companion, A. C. Swain, and some others left us, 
stepped into the bushes, and I have not seen them 
since." Long afterwards he learned that they escaped 
to Indiana, and there they remained. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 285 

On Second-da;^, the fifteenth, he wrote : " On the 
march before sunrise. We are conducted by Major 
Wharton. Arrived at Springville. Here I gave a 
watch for a pint of milk." 

" Third-day, the 16th of 6th month. Went about 
six or eight miles and met some wounded soldiers, 
who said the Southern troops had taken Winchester 
and the Yankees were fleeing." 

" Fourth-day, the 17th. I ate the last bread I 
brought from home and bought three small loaves for 
15 cents. Afternoon. Went on to Winchester and 
camped in an orchard. It is said that last First- 
day was a terrible time here, as the fight began at 
seven o'clock and lasted all day. The Federalists 
were overpowered and the South holds the place. Our 
regiment is said to be five or six miles from here." 

" 6th month 18th. They took us before the 
authorities and assigned us to companies. Mine is 
company M, 21st North Carolina regiment, Early's 
division, Ewell's corps. Here they armed all the rest 
of the men and attempted to arm me, but I steadily 
refused to take any weapons ; so after threatening 
me to no purpose they let me off, only requiring me 
to go with them." 

" Sixth month 19th. My company is mostly made 
up of men from Guilford County, N. C. Eli Coble 
is in my squad. He and I tent together and he is 
very obliging to me. The army is a very trying place 
for a Christian to be in, because there are so many 
things that we cannot for conscience' sake do that 
must be done if the war goes on. So we are con- 



236 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

stantly beset on every side. Nothing but the all-sup- 
porting arm of God can hold us or save us from fall- 
ing by temptation. My company is very kind to me. 
I spent the day in reading my Bible, mostly. There 
were others that had their Testaments out to-day. I 
hope the Lord has a remnant even here that may be 
saved. O the love I have for these poor conscript 
soldiers ! Many of them would give all they have in 
the world to get out of the war, but the fear of man 
is greater than the fear of God. It seems as though 
they cannot believe that God will protect them." 

" Second-day, the 23d of 6th month. This evening 
I was before Colonel Kirkland. He asked me what 
I wanted. I told him that I desired a discharge or 
release t^om the army that I might go home. He 
wanted to know how much money I would give him 
to let me off. I told him I could not give him any, 
but if he saw proper to release me I would give him 
goodwill. He asked me if I was not worth f 500. I 
told him that my property was worth that or more. 
He said the authorities of North Carolina had sent 
me out there as a man capable of making a soldier, 
and that I would have to comply with orders or he 
would order me shot, and said I might take a gun 
and go into the ranks, or he would order me shot that 
evening or the next morning, and I might take my 
choice. I told him that I would not take a gun nor 
march in the drill, so he said : ' Which will you 
choose, to be shot evening or morning ? ' I told him 
I should choose neither, but if my God whom I served 
permitted him to take my life I would submit to it ; I 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 237 

would die a martyr for Christ's sake. He said lie liad 
full power, without permission, to kill nie if I did not 
comply. I told him I did not deny that he had, so 
far as the power of man extended, but there was a 
power above man's, and he could not remove a hair of 
my head without my Heavenly Father's notice, etc. 
He wanted to know if I was a good workman. I told 
him that I was counted a passable hand. He said I 
was the very man for him and he had the very place 
to put me ; it was to go to the wagon-yard and work 
there. It would not be hard work, and he wanted to 
hear a good report from Captain Vogler. I told him 
that I would receive no appointment to work at any- 
thing that was to carry on war. He ordered me to 
say no more but to go to the wagons, and sent a man 
to take me to Captain Vogler of the wagon train. He 
told me to go and mow grass for the horses, but I 
refused on conscientious grounds. They said that I 
should be shot. I said that my God told me not to 
do so, and that I feared Him more than what they 
could do. So when they found that I would not com- 
ply they sent me back to camp, saying that they had 
no use for such a fellow. They then reported me to 
the colonel, who said that he would have me shot that 
night or the next morning." 

Kecorded in the journal on the eve of the 23d is 
the following prayer, which evinces his resignation to 
God's will even under the most trying circumstances, 
and when it looked to hiin that he was likely to lay 
down his life for his testimony to the Prince of 
Peace : 



238 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" O Lord, my Heavenly Father, my prayer is that 
Thy name may be glorified and not my will be done. 
But if it be Thy will that I should lay down my life, 
be Thou pleased to pardon all my sins, for Thy dear 
Son's sake, and take away the fear of man, and leave 
me not in the hour of trial, but support me by Thy 
arm of power ; for my hope is in Thee, that Thou wilt 
control the raging of men as Thou didst in the days of 
old when Thou protectedst Shadrach, Meshach and 
Abednego in the midst of the fiery furnace, or the 
prophet Daniel in the lion's den. If it be Thy will, 
O Lord, Thou canst deliver me from those who seek 
my life, and enable me to proclaim thy wonderful 
works to the sons and daughters of men. All praise 
is due to Thee and to Thee alone ! 

" Be pleased to be near and comfort and protect my 
dear wife and children in their lonely condition, that 
they may bo enabled to press forward and not faint by 
the way, but put their trust in Thee, who alone can 
save. O Lord, comfort my aged father, whose heart 
yearns for his dear son. 

" O God, here am L My heart is resigned. Come 
life, come death. Thy will be done, not mine." 

Here the journal states : " I requested my tent- 
mate that if my life was taken from me he would let 
my dear wife know what had become of me. He 
agreed to do so." 

" Gth month 24th. I was ordered out and recpiired 
to fall in line with the company and drill, but I 
refused. They tried to make me, and I sat down on 
the ground. They reminded me of the orders to shoot 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 239 

me, but I told them my God said to fear not them 
that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; 
but rather to fear Him that is able to destroy both 
soul and body in Hell. The company was then or- 
dered to fall back eight paces, leaving- me in front of 
them. They were then ordered by Colonel Kirkland 
to ' Load ; Present arms ; Aim,' and their guns were 
pointed directly at my breast. I raised my arms and 
prayed : ' Father, forgive them ; they know not what 
they do.' Not a gun was fired. They lowered them 
without orders, and some of the men were heard to 
say that they 'could, not shoot such a man.' The 
order was then given, ' Ground arms.' 

" The officers having consulted together, the cap- 
tain soon came to me with two men, brinoins: a g^un 
and a cartridge-box with thirty rounds of ammu- 
nition. The captain said : ' Now take these and join 
ranks.' Refusing to do so, the soldiers tied them on 
me and strapped the gun to my back, and the captain 
ordered me to rise and walk in drill ; but I refused. 

" An officer then swore he would ride over me, and 
made many efforts to do so, but failed, for his horse 
coidd not be. made to step on me. At one time he 
carefully placed his foot between my arm and my 
side, without in the least injuring me. The captain 
struck me on the back of the head with the heavy end 
of a gun, and although I was stunned by the blow I 
soon got over it and never felt it afterwards. The 
captain ordered two men to take me to the ranks forty 
or fifty yards away, but I did not feel free to walk in 
that direction." 



240 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

They dragged him to the end of the line and let 
him go, and he sat down again. The captain called 
two men and declared that he must walk in the drill 
or they wonld kill him. Then William Hockett 
kneeled and prayed that the Lord would not lay this 
sin to their charge, but grant him strength to bear all 
these afflictions for His Name's sake. The captain 
ordered the men to fix bayonets. One replied that he 
had no bayonet. The other obej^ed and was ordered 
to run him through if he would not get up and 
go into the drill. This man put the bayonet against 
William Hockett's back and began to push. Others 
took his arms and tried to persuade him to go for- 
ward. They said they did not wish to hurt him but 
they must obey orders or be shot themselves. 

The captain then ordered the man with a gun to 
" blow a ball through him." The muzzle of the gun 
was placed against him, and the soldier pressed but 
did not shoot. Finally the man with a bayonet 
pretended to run it through him, but the bayonet 
only passed through his clothing and by his side with- 
out injuring him. 

The captain then left, saying he was not yet done 
with him, and the men took him half a mile to 
Waynesboro, where he was left. The army and 
wagon trains all passed him, but the rear guards 
were under orders to pass none, and upon coming to 
our friend told him that they' did not wish to hurt 
him, but they were under orders to take all on to 
camp and were obliged to do so. Considering that he 
had been faithful in bearing his testimony, and that 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 241 

he was not required to walk in the drill, he walked on 
to camp with the gun still tied upon his back. When 
the irun was removed he would not take care of it, 
whereupon the soldiers made some threats, but did not 
punish him. They tried instead to induce him to run 
away. He told them to give him papers to show that 
he had his liberty and he would willingly leave them. 

The second morning the soldiers again attempted to 
make him carry the gun. He told them he would not 
do it, and they threw it into a wagon. When they 
camped at noon the captain of the wagon train found 
out that William had not been carrying it and told the 
man who threw it into the wagon to go and make him 
carry it ; that he would not have it in the wagon. The 
man attempted to compel William to carry the weapon, 
but he said he would not walk one step with it on ; 
that the soldier knew it was wrong to try to make him 
carry it. The soldier said yes, he knew it was wrong, 
and then added : " Well, come along then : I will 
carry it." William was never again asked to carry 
a gun. 

On the 28th of 6th month he wrote : " Oh ! how I 
wish I was at home to go with my dear wife to Centre 
meeting to-day to worship the Lord in spirit and in 
truth. But the Lord's will, not mine, be done." In 
the evening he writes : " I have spent the day in 
reading my Bible, and in silent waiting upon the 
Lord. My heart is sick, seeing the roguery our men 
are up to ; taking horses, cattle and provisions of all 
kinds. Nothing that they see escapes their grasp. 
An abundance of things is taken, and they are thrown 



242 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

away because the men cannot carry them. I have 
nothing- to do but cook my own rations and keep up 
with the wagon train." 

On the second of July orders were given that he 
shoukl go to cooking. The battle of Gettysburg was 
being fought, and the captain told him he would buck 
him down if he did not help. William Hockett was 
reading his Bible, and paid no attention to the orders. 
The captain then left him, but sent orders that he 
must carry water or he would have him sent to the 
front ranks in the battle where the fighting was being 
done. But William declined this service also, as it 
would release a man to fight. The captain now told 
him he would release him from both services if he 
woidd carry two buckets of water, but William would 
do no military service. 

A short time after he had refused to obey the order 
to cook, a wagon arrived in which was a sick man, 
whom the captain referred to William for care, as he 
sat on his blanket reading his Bible. The poor, suf- 
fering, emaciated passenger said he was from For- 
sythe County, N. C, and was kejit with the wagon 
train because he refused to fight, on conscientious 
grounds. He was probably a Dunkard. His health 
was broken down, and he was hungry and thirsty. ; 
he was in a pitiable condition, and William at once 
made way for him to lie down on his blanket. 

The captain was watching him as he so kindly re- 
ceived and provided for the stranger. The man asked 
him to go to the camp and get him some water. 
William declined to go thither for it, but took his 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 243 

canteen and cup, went to the spring and filled them. 
The stranger then ask(;d him to go to the camp and 
get him some food ; hut William declined to do this 
also, giving as a reason that he had refused to cook 
for the camp, and the soldiers might not be willing to 
allow him cooked food. lie willingly gave him what 
food he had, however, and after some hesitation the 
hungry man ate it, upon being told that more rations 
would be issued that night. AVhen the wagon moved 
on he went with it, cheered and refreshed, and Wil- 
liam never saw him again. 

Rations were issued that night, ])ut not to William. 
They told him that as he would not cook he should 
not eat. He replied : " Well, I shall be fed in some 
way." The soldiers were under orders to be ready to 
march at a moment's notice. The order came just as 
one man had his cake spread on the pan over the 
coals to bake for his supper, and he was unable to 
wait for it to be baked. William got the cake as he 
passed, and though it was a little too well baked on 
one side it served very well for his supper. 

In the morning, as the troops were marching to 
another camp, they passed a small house near the 
road. It was getting well along in the day and Wil- 
liam was beginning to feel the need of his breakfast 
and to wonder where it would come from, when he 
came opposite this house. Suddenly the window was 
opened and a woman threw a large loaf of bread 
directly at him. He caught it in his hands. She hur- 
riedly closed the window and neither of them spoke. 
Was it an accident that he, the only one of all that 



244 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

marching host that needed bread, should be provided 
for in this strange manner? William thought of the 
Lord feeding Elijah by the use of a raven, and con- 
cluded that He had used this woman, jjerhaps uncon- 
sciously to her, as a means of supj)lying his need. 
This bread lasted him until he was captured and fed 
by the Union soldiers. 

On the second of July he writes : " We have heard 
the roaring of cannon all day. They have been fight- 
ing two days at Gettysburg. I have not heard the 
particulars." Next day he says : " The cannon are 
still to be heard. About noon they began fighting in 
earnest. There is a constant roaring of cannon al- 
most like thunder. What an awful thing it is ! Lord, 
have mercy on me ; my mind is stayed on Thee. 
The fight continued until about midnight, and it is 
said to have been the hardest fight they have yet 
had." William Hockett seems to have been on some 
account at the hospital, and concerning what he saw 
he says : 

" July 3d. It is a sight I never wish to behold 
again. Hundreds of people wounded in nearly every 
part of the body ; calling for friends to come and 
soothe their afflictions. Some dying, some already 
dead and lying out in the yard until holes can be dug 
to put them in. This is only one of the many horri- 
ble pictures of war. There were cases of whom hojjcs 
of recovery were entertained. Those of whom there 
were no hopes were left on the battlefield to pine 
away and die. There has been a heavy loss on both 
sides in killed and wounded." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 245 

How lieavy it was our friend then had no know- 
ledge. Much as he saw, he had no idea that on the 
Northern side the loss was 23,216 men, and on the 
Southern side 36,000, making, during this terrible 
three days' battle, a loss of over 59,000 men, bleed- 
ing and dying because " the rulers of the land had 
plunged us into a war with all its horrors." 

" Seventh month 4th. Orders came for the wag-on 
train to start for Virginia. Got to within six and a 
half miles of Hagerstown, and I told the captain that 
I was not able to walk ; that he could draw me or 
leave me as he chose. He chose the latter, so I went 
to a man's house and stayed all night and was kindly 
treated." 

" Seventh month 5th. Packed up to start, and the 
Union cavalry came along and took me prisoner." 

He was marched around with others all day and 
most of the night, and then on to a camp at Boons- 
boro, and the next day to Frederick City, where about 
two thousand prisoners were gathered. In the even- 
ing they were put into cars and taken to Baltimore, 
where they were placed in Fort McHenry. 

Here he writes on the eighth of July : " This is 
a trying j)lace for a civil man. Both Northern and 
Southern men contend that they are right, when, in 
my opinion, they are both wrong. The bitter oaths 
that are continually sounding in my ears are disgust- 
ing to me." 

From Baltimore, William Hockett was taken to 
Fort Delaware, of which he says : " It is a solid- 
looking place, but has too much the appearance of 



246 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

war to be attractive to me. Here there are some ten 
thousand prisoners from all parts of the Southern 
Confederacy, and the place is anj^thing but desirable. 

Lord, be Thou pleased to keep me from the evils 
they are plunging into. I have not seen a man here 
whom I know." 

" Seventh-day, 11th. I have been very sick for a 
day or two. I have read the New Testament through 
since I left home about a month since." 

"Thirteenth. My health seems to be improving. 

1 met to-day Carney BoUen, who told me that the 
four Holly Spring boys were in his regiment and com- 
pany, and were well when he left." 

" Fifteenth. Have been quite sick, but walked out 
in the open ground to get fresh air. While there an- 
other company of prisoners was brought in. The four 
Holly Spring boys were among them. I stepped up 
and spoke to them, which surprised them very much, 
as they thought I was at home. We were glad to 
see each other." 

We can imagine these five men meeting so far 
fi'om home and under such strange circumstances, as 
lifetime acquaintances and personal friends, of the 
same faith and having had similar experiences in 
bearing their testimony. As they recounted to each 
other their trials and sufferings, they must have re- 
joiced and praised the Lord together for His marvel- 
ous care of them, and the grace given them to hold 
out faithful. 

The next day they were visited by two Friends 
from Wilmington, Delaware, Samuel Hilles and AVil- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 247 

liam Corse. These Friends brought them presents of 
oranges, lemons and bread, which were gladly re- 
ceived. These had only a few hours before heard 
that some of their Southern brethren were " sick and 
in prison," and they visited them as soon as possible. 

The day following, Robert Pearsall Smith, of Phila- 
deli)hia, who was connected with the Christian Com- 
mission, heard of them at the hospital, and at once 
went to see if he could do anything for them. The 
journal refers to these visits. According to 11. P. 
Smith's advice, they prepared a paper to be laid 
before the authorities, in which they set forth the 
circumstances and their convictions, and asked to be 
discharged from the place. William Ilockett had 
just had his pocket book and all his money stolen. 
He says : " Robert Pearsall Smith gave us some 
money and blankets furnished by Friends at the city. 
He said his mother was a Friend, and that he ' held 
somewhat that way,' and could sympathize with us." 

" Seventh month 21st. Had just sent out and 
bought some bread and molasses when a basket of 
provisions and medicine was sent in from our friend, 
T. W. Beasley, who was not allowed to come in to 
see us. We now have something to eat and to dis- 
tribute among the needy." 

" Seventh month 23d. My companions and I have 
all things in common as one family. Have bought 
some butter, bread and molasses to-day." 

" Seventh month 24th. Last night we were robbed 
of nearly everything except what we had on." 

" Seventh month 25th. My companions are very 



248 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

much out of heart. Some of them are sick. We are 
told that the general at the fort says we shall not be 
discharged unless we will join some Union company ; 
that we can't send for any money from our friends, 
neither shall they come to see us ; so our case does 
look gloomy. 

" I told my comrades that I was reminded of what 
David Frazier said in his preaching at Centre meeting 
just before I left home. When speaking of trials 
that some one there woidd soon have to undergo, he 
said : ' Then recollect that the darkest time of night 
is just before the break of day.' I told them for all 
we knew this was the time, and just then an officer 
, came walking along inquiring for the Quakers. Being 
pointed out to him, he read from a paper in his hand : 
' Thomas Hinshaw, Jacob Hinshaw, Nathan Barker, 
Cyrus Barker, William B. Hockett. Are you here ? ' 
' All here except Thomas Hinshaw.' ' Where is he ? ' 
' Gone to the boat after water.' lie turned around 
and said : ' Follow me.' Immediately we obeyed, and 
as we came to the gate Thomas was there, and or- 
dered through with us. Our guide stepped in the 
office and got the order from the quartermaster to 
the general at the fort to discharge us and send us 
to Philadelphia. He then brought us in before the 
general, who read the order and then took down five 
' oaths of allegiance to the Union,' and presented 
each with one to sign ; but for conscience' sake we 
could not take them in their full form. The gen- 
eral told us we might take them as they were or 
remain there until the war ended, for we woidd not 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 249 

be discharged. He said we professed to be a law- 
abiding people. We told liiiii that we were, and 
when we, for conscience' sake, could not comply with 
the law, we submitted to the penalty, and that we 
were willing to be bound in that respect ; but if the 
law reqviired things of us that came into conflict with 
our religious feelings, we peaceably submitted to the 
penalty, if it was death, rather than wound our con- 
science. 

" After consulting some officers he altered the 
oaths to ' affirmations,' striking out such jDarts as we 
objected to, but leaving us bound not to go into or 
correspond with the disloyal States without liberty 
from the Secretary of War. We then signed and 
qualified to them. He then gave us a passj)ort to the 
boat at Newcastle and a transport to Philadelphia 
on the cars. Tenderly bidding us farewell, he said : 
' Don't be too late for the cars.' We were on time." 

Ascertaining that these papers permitted it, our 
friends accepted an invitation to stop at Samuel 
Hilles's home in Wilmington, Delaware, who, with 
other Friends, was gone to Washington on their behalf, 
but returned next day. 

These released prisoners made no small stir in the 
city of Wilmington as they appeared on the streets 
the day after their arrival. It was the day when the 
Friends held their mid-week meeting, and the North 
Carolina conscripts went joyfully to the worship of 
God in company with them. After the meeting was 
over, numbers of Friends were anxious to entertain 
the strangers and to listen to their remarkable stories. 



250 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The visitors finally separated, and as guests went to 
different houses. 

For a few days they continued their visits among 
Friends, and the journal of William Hockett says : 
" Went to Joseph Tatnall's. He gave me five dollars, 
which I divided with my companions. Then we went 
to Samuel and Margaret Hilles's, who are like a 
father and mother to us." 

They were taken by Samuel Hilles to Philadelphia, 
where they were entertained by Thomas Evans. Here 
they learned that the Philadelphia Meeting for Suf- 
ferings had appointed Thomas Evans, Samuel Hilles, 
and James R. Graves to visit the President and Sec- 
• retary of War on their account. The journal con- 
tinues : " They, under God's help, have effected our 
release, for which we feel truly thankful. We praise 
and adore Almighty God for His mercies so bounti- 
fully bestowed upon us poor unworthy creatures. Let 
all honor and praise be ascribed to the Lord, and none 
to us, for we are unprofitable servants ; we have only 
done our duty, and it was through and by the ability 
which God gave that we were enabled to do this." 

The Philadelphia Friends kindly furnished each of 
these five men with a trunk full of clothing and fifty 
dollars in cash, and with a ticket to their friends in 
Indiana. The wives and children of Thomas and 
Jacob Hinshaw made their way to them, in the course 
of the year, and the account of their journeyings in 
those troublesome times was an interesting story, as 
recently given to the writer by Thomas Hinshaw's 
wife. After the surrender, William Hockett and his 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 251 

friends returned to their Southern homes, and on the 
farm where his wife so faithfully toiled for herself 
and the little ones, in his absence, they still live, en- 
joying the goodness and mercy of the Lord and the 
blessed hope of that eternal rest, into which some of 
their companions in trial, and their little ones, so 
faithfully cared for, have already entered. 

On the fifth of June, 1865, under the shade of a 
big oak tree, in front of his house, where he had 
bidden his wife and children good-by two years 
before, to answer the call of the Raleigh guards, 
William B. Hockett was privileged again to clasp in 
his arms his wife and little ones. With joyful hearts 
thanksgiving was offered to Almighty God for His 
faithfulness in keeping them amid the scenes and pri- 
vations of those years of separation ; for William was 
not the only one to suffer trial. To his wife those 
years had been a time of earnest toil, care and 
anxiety. Not only had she labored for the support of 
herself and her little children, but solicitude for her 
husband had daily weighed upon her heart. Tidings 
came from him but seldom, and she could only leave 
him in the hands of her Heavenly Father while she 
carried on the farm, spun and wove, working by day 
and night, anxiously waiting and wondering how and 
when the end would come. 

Johnston's army had spent many weeks in the 
neighborhood of her home, and had on two occasions 
filled her yard from morning until evening ; but not 
a chicken had been taken without leave. Whilst the 
wagons and cattle of the army were passing, her own 



252 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

cattle got loose and started away with the army herds. 
The colored boy whom she employed went after them, 
and when the captain of the train was told the cir- 
cumstances, he ordered his men to help turn the 
straying- cattle. A neighbor told the trusting wife 
that her horse was in too good condition ; that the 
army was needing horses, and hers would surely be 
taken. The army was all day passing her house, and 
the excited horse was racing back and forth between 
the barn and the road in full view, but he was not 
taken. Although the neighborhood had been ran- 
sacked for miles around for horses, and scarcely one 
of any value had been left, this fine young horse, 
for which William Hockett had refused the five hun- 
dred dollars to purchase his freedom, had been spared 
through the providence of God and the care of the 
neighbors, who on some occasions had hid it in the 
woods and bushes. Says the journal : " The Lord 
laiew the corn that was planted would have to be 
ploughed, or it would not grow, and the promise was 
that my wife should not want during my absence." 

William Hockett quietly took up once more the 
duties of home life, and happily have he and his wife 
lived on the old home-j)lace. Their little children of 
the war time, and others whom God has given them, 
are grown to manhood and womanhood, and some of 
them are settled in homes of their own. The baby 
who was so tenderly cared for in those trying years 
has gone on to the home above, leaving three of her 
own children to battle with life. 

In their declining years, William and his wife, 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 253 

under the shade of the ohl oak tree that casts a little 
longer shadow now, often recount the memories of 
those times and the blessings they have received from 
God. As regularly as in those earlier days before the 
war, they cross the stream still flowing between their 
home and the new meeting-house on the hill, to " wor- 
ship God in spirit and in truth." 

William has been recorded a minister of the gospel 
among the Friends, and in the evening of life is doing 
what his hands find to do, to hasten the day when 
righteousness shall reign in the earth, and the sound 
of battle shall no more be heard in any land. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

God bless ye, brothers ! — in the fight 

Ye' re waging now, ye cannot fail. 

For better is your sense of right 

Than kingcraft's triple mail. 

Whittier. 

HiMELius and Jesse Hockett were brothers of 
William B. Hockett. They were settled near the old 
homestead at Centre, always attended the same meet- 
ing, and had accepted the doctrines of Friends. On 
the fourth of April, 18G2, they were drafted, sent to 
Raleigh, and tlience to Woldon, N. C. They were 
assigned to Capt. Kirkman\s comjiany, hut for some 
days were not required to perform any military duty. 

Himelius Hockett says : " The captain well under- 
stood our principles. He was a very kind man, dis- 
posed to favor us, and it was by his kindness that we 
were thus far excused from service." The conduct of 
the brothers excited the curiosity of the soldiers, and 
they had opportunity to explain their religious prin- 
ciples, which were well received by many. The colonel 
soon sent orders, however, that every man able for 
duty should be drilled. This brought the brothers be- 
fore him, and he gave them the choice of one of three 
things, to take a gun, accept work, or be shot. But 
they said they must upon conscientious grounds decline 



>. 



^ 






h*m ^- 




If. M. IIOCKETT 



SOUTHERN HEROES: 255 

to do any work that aided in carrying on war. The 
colonel replied that it was no time for religions scru- 
ples ; that they were in the war and must fight out o£ 
it ; that it was the duty of every man alike to aid in 
the defense of his country and property ; that it would 
be time enough for people to embrace such a religion 
as they pleased when the war was over. He told them 
that they were liable to be shot for disobedience, and 
if they did not obey him he would report them to the 
highest authority. They replied that they were com- 
manded to fear God, who is able to destroy both soul 
and body, rather than man who, when he hath de- 
stroyed the body, hath no more that he can do. 

They were then taken to prison and told to make up 
their minds what part of the service they would enter. 
Much interest, from various motives, was shown by 
the men concerning the grounds of their objections 
and as to what would be the fate of the Christian 
prisoners. After coming to understand their position, 
many of the soldiers spoke words of encouragement 
to the Friends. One Baptist brother took up their 
defense, and argued that the Friends were right and 
where his own church ought to be upon the subject. 

The colonel was informed by the brothers that they 
could not accept any of his propositions, and that, as 
was their Christian privilege, they would sufPer the 
penalty, whatever it might be. They were then kept 
in prison for several days, expecting hourly to be 
called out for trial ; but with others they were dis- 
charged, it having been proved that the number of 
men required from their township had been made up 



256 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

by volunteers. They were accordingly sent home, 
only to be conscripted soon after. We will now let 
Himelius M. Hockett tell their story in his own words, 
as he has kindly sent it to the writer. 

" We were notified of our conscription and ordered 
to camp, but we did not choose to go, and remained 
quietly about our own affairs. Soon, however, the 
militia colonel appeared and took us from our work 
in the fields to the camp at Raleigh. We stated our 
reasons for not answering the summons, and told the 
officers we went as prisoners and not as soldiers. 

" Arriving in Raleigh April 4th, 1863, we, with a 
neighbor named Reynolds, were ordered to go at once 
to get wood for the use of the camp. This we declined 
to do, for we considered that by so doing we would 
commit ourselves to further military requirements. 
The officers then ordered soldiers to drive us into the 
service with bayonets, swearing that they would make 
examples of such men before they woidd have their 
orders disobeyed. We told them we meant no disre- 
spect to them as men or officers, but that it was in 
obedience to a higher authority that we felt that we 
must refuse to obey orders that conflicted with the 
laws of God. 

" We were left in camp over night, and the next 
morning were ordered to similar work, but declining, 
were told that they would soon bring us out of our 
religious notions. Tlae enrolling officer of the com- 
pany told us that over f 20,000 had been paid to him 
for Quaker taxes by Orthodox Quakers, and they 
would subdue us before they had done with us. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 257 

" I then told my brother that they were in no con- 
dition to hear truth, and it woukl be like castins; 
pearls before swine to rejjly to them. We meekly let 
them go on with their tirades of abuse until they pretty 
well exhausted themselves. Noticing our composure, 
one said : ' I reckon you think you are persecuted for 
righteousness' sake, don't you ? ' Every man was then 
ordered into line to march to the adjutant-general's 
office to be assigned to his jjlace in the army. We 
declined to march in line, and for this the soldiers 
were ordered to run us through with their bayonets. 
They ran the glittering steel through our clothing 
without inflicting the least damage to our persons, in 
a way that seemed strange to us. We told them we 
would go to the office as prisoners, but not in military 
drill. This we were allowed to do, and we did it with 
such coolness that one of the officers was heard to 
remark : ' That fellow is no coward and might make 
a splendid field officer if he only had the right dispo- 
sition in him.' 

"We were assigned with Wenlock Eeynolds and 
another Friend to a battery of artillery. Military 
clothing was given us but we declined it. We were 
sent at once to Kinston and placed in a battery of 
horse-artillery. Next day we were all three ordered 
to drill with the rest, but refusing to take arms, we 
were told by the lieutenant to consider ourselves under 
arrest for disobeying orders. Much curiosity was 
aroused among the men, many of whom could not 
seem to realize that religion had anything in it to jus- 
tify exemption from military duty, in a case of neces- 



258 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

sity like this ; and one said : ' He that protecteth not 
his house hath denied the faith and is worse than an 
infideh' To this I replied that the Scripture did not 
read in that way. He insisted that he had quoted 
it correctly, but, taking a New Testament from my 
pocket, I soon proved him wrong. He said that 
' provide ' meant the same as ' protect,' anyway. I 
told him to apply to the dictionary and he would find 
the meaning very different ; that we believed it our 
duty to 'provide things honest in the sight of all 
men,' but when called upon to protect, in the sense in 
which he used the word, it was contrary to the pre- 
cepts of Christ, who with his disciples taught that we 
should ' resist not evil,' ' do violence to no man,' 
' they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,' 
'be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with 
good,' etc. One man called out : ' That man is right ; 
it is as he says,' and thereupon they grew divided 
among themselves, and the officers became angry and 
ordered us up to the general's headquarters. 

" General Ransom had been informed of our po- 
sition, and meeting us at the gate of his office said 
that he was a man of decision and would have 'no 
equivocations nor prevarications ' from us ; as to our 
religion, we should not bring that up, for he knew as 
much about that as he cared to know. His decision 
was already made. We could go on duty under arms, 
pay the tax settled upon, or go to the salt-works, and 
he would give us as much time as we wanted to make 
our decision, but under the following circmnstances : 
to be shut up in prison under guard, without one mor- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 259 

sel of anything to eat or drink, or any communication 
with any one until we complied with his orders. 

" We were then taken to the provost-marshal's office 
to receive the execution of our sentence. He advised 
us to pay the tax, as it was a great privilege which 
thousands would gladly avail themselves of. We told 
him that to us it was not a matter of dollars and cents ; 
that this had no bearing with us ; it was a matter of 
principle, in which our religious liberty was interfered 
with. Wenlock Reynolds concluded, however, to pay 
the tax and was discharged. But my brother and I 
could not feel free to do so and went to the prison to 
share alike our fate. 

" The captain of the guard seemed at first harsh 
and rough in his manner, but a little incident, small 
though it may seem, took hold of his feelings. After 
committing us to the room and charging the guard in 
our presence to keep us with all diligence, he told 
them not to allow any communication between us and 
any one else, nor to allow us to have a morsel of any- 
thing to eat or drink, as the general had ordered. We 
were impressed that it would be right to make a full 
sm-render and to trust wholly to a kind Providence, so 
we told him we had some cakes and cheese in our 
valises, that had been fvirnished us by our wives at 
home. We then opened the valises and showed him 
before the giiards what we had, and told him if it was 
right to execute such a sentence, he could take them. 
' O ! ' he said, ' I guess you might keep that,' and he 
seemed very tender, but looking at the guards who 
were looking at him, there seemed no way for him to 



260 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

evade the command he had received and given, and so 
they took the food away. This circumstance undoubt- 
edly had its effect in opening the way for future 
results. 

" The captain did all he could for us, and thought 
we had better yield a little, even at some compromise 
of principle. He said that Ransom was a hard gen- 
eral and would see us perish before he would reverse 
his decision. 

"Numbers became interested, and Walter Dunn, 
the provost-marshal, came in to see us ; he labored 
hard to persuade us that we were in error in trying to 
keep to principles that our own ^jhurch did not contend 
for : that he had taken pains to inform himself and 
we were about all who were giving the authorities 
trouble because of religion ; he said Wenlock Rey- 
nolds had paid the tax, and why couldn 't we ; that we 
were not subordinate to the decisions of our church at 
large. I then took from my pocket a copy of the last 
yearly meeting's minutes and showed him the recorded 
decisions of that body. He paused for a while, and 
then said that we could not see alike, and it was better 
to compromise these little prejudices, or opinions, 
especially when calamities were upon us. I told him 
we had no right to compromise with wrong ; we ought 
to obey God rather than man ; and we should not do 
violence to an enlightened conscience. All his argu- 
ments were, answered in a way that was interesting, if 
not satisfactory to him, and he then began to inquire 
into our condition as prisoners, concerning which he 
manifestly felt anxious. He asked if we had not 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 261 

partaken of food or drink since we were put in jail, 
and we were able to answer him that we had not, 
which he seemed to wonder at, asking over and over 
particularly. It may be that he suspected the guards 
had been feeding us, for we had now been over four 
days without food or water, and there was a growing 
feeling of anxiety concerning us. 

" The evening before the visit of the marshal, 
while we were feeling somewhat thirsty, cojiious show- 
ers of rain fell, and we could have caught water from 
the windows as it fell from the eaves of the building. 
My first thought was, * that water is providentially 
sent,' but I felt restraitied from taking any of it. 
Arousing my brother, who had fallen asleep, I asked 
him about it, and he said he thought we had better 
not. So we went to sleep again. Had we kept the 
cakes and cheese or caught the water, we could not 
have given the answers we did to the officer's ques- 
tions, and this fact seemed more to impress him in 
our favor than anything else. 

" One day a sergeant came in, saying we were the 
worst men on earth ; that we were committing suicide 
by willfully starving ourselves to death, and we would 
go to hell for it. I told him that he could make no 
such thing appear unless he could make it appear that 
we refused to eat, and that it was martyrdom we were 
sufferinfj instead of committins; suicide. At this he 
hung his head and went away. 

" The chaplains and others were admitted to con- 
vince us of our supposed error and induce us to 
change our position. We seldom, if ever, had the 



262 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

second disagreeable interview witli the same person. 
Their abuse was received with meekness, and they 
afterwards rewarded us with kindness. 

" We felt remarkably preserved during this isola- 
tion from human aid, and felt but little the need of 
any earthly thing. 

" The night before our release, Colonel Eaton came 
to our prison with half a pint of water and one spoon- 
ful of sugar in it, saying : ' I have come to relieve 
you from this punishment. I have a little water and 
sugar which I am happy to furnish you.' I told him 
if given in a Christian spirit he would be blessed in 
the deed. He seemed much affected and very tender, 
and said he hoped ever to live in the spirit of doing 
to others as he would be done by. 

" The next morning, fully five days after our con- 
finement, a small amount of food was given us with 
the statement that the doctors said they must allow 
us but little, as much food would endanger our lives. 
It seemed singular that after passing such a sentence 
they should be so anxious to save our lives, but we 
soon ascertained that there was more anxiety than we 
supposed, and while we were favored to possess our 
souls in patience, the officers were much troubled on 
our account. We found, too, that the citizens were 
becoming so aroused that a plot was on foot to release 
us by a mob if we were not soon relieved. 

" A Baptist minister by the name of Thorne was 
admitted to our room soon after the sentence of star- 
vation had been revoked. He seemed to be in the 
last stages of consumption, and said he did not expect 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 263 

to live long, but wanted to encourage us to be faith- 
ful ; that he had sympathized with us during our 
harsh treatment, and appreciated and endorsed our 
peace principles ; that their church originally advo- 
cated peace princijiles and ought to to-day, but by 
giving away gradually to some disaffected members, 
they had drifted into a form of discipline which left 
their members at liberty. (Cabot Powell, the Baptist 
before alluded to, corroborated this statement, and so 
did Charles Spurgeon in his lecture on George Fox.) 
Our friend then told us that he had become so inter- 
ested in our case that he had sent a letter by private 
messenger to Governor Vance, and had instructed 
the messenger to wait in person for a reply and return 
with it the same night. The governor, by executive 
authority, had revoked and set aside the sentence of 
General Ransom." 

The following letter written by Himelius M. Hock- 
ett at the time of his imprisonment has been found 
by the writer among a package of papers, and will 
doubtless interest the reader : 

KiNSTON, N. C, 4/10, 1863. 
" Deae wife and children : Having the chance 
to send home a few lines, rather unexpectedly, I have 
concluded to write, though under circumstances which 
I fear will prove tr3dng to you. I am in good health 
and have been quite well, for me, nearly ever since I 
left home. Jesse is not quite so well. He has taken 
cold and has a troublesome cough, though we hope it 
will prove nothing serious. 



264 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" We are assigned to Captain Bunting's Wilming- 
ton horse-artillery company, stationed at Kinston. 
We were brought here last Fourth-day and remained 
in camj) until this morning. On being required to 
drill we refused, and were sent up to the town one 
mile this side of the battery to appear before General 
Kansom. He told us he would hear no plea about 
religion, as the laws had made provisions and he was 
bound to execute them ; that he shovdd put us in a 
room upstairs and we should not have one drop of 
water nor one morsel of food ; neither should we com- 
municate with any one except authorities until we 
agreed to go on duty or pay the five hundred dollar 
tax. 

"Second-day, the 13th. We missed the opportu- 
nity of sending letters home and are still in prison, 
having been three days and nights without one mor- 
sel of sustenance, either bread or water, and the cap- 
tain, who visits us daily, says that we will find General 
Ransom's orders carried out, for he will see us dead 
and buried before he will give way one particle. We, 
however, do not think it safe to give way to his 
demands, having a Master, even Christ, to whom it 
is our duty to yield ourselves servants to obey. 

" Now read the tenth, eleventh and twelfth chaj)- 
ters of Hebrews, and they will set forth our faith and 
whereunto we must come, to become servants of the 
living and eternal God, who has bought us with a 
price aud is able to redeem us from all suffering and 
bondage in his own time and pleasure, when he is 
pleased to say it is enough. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 265 

" Whatever may be our fate, we feel perfectly re- 
signed to God's blessed will, which is a duty all Chris- 
tians must come unto, and we have felt that we coidd 
give up all things in the earth for His sake, near and 
dear as they seem to us. Such has been our comfort 
after three days of starving that we have rested many 
times, perfectly at ease, not knowing the need of any- 
thing ; yea, have felt that the bread from heaven 
had not been withheld from us. We sometimes feel 
the River of Life to be flowing so near that we can 
hardly desire to return to such freedom as the world 
can give. 

" Third - day, the 21st. Having been prevented 
from sending you a letter by the last mail, we now 
embrace the opportunity. We went four and a half 
days without a morsel of food or drink. By this time 
it pleased the Lord to touch the hearts of the people, 
and we were given one half pint of sugar and water 
the first night, and the next morning we received 
bread and other victuals, as we were able to bear it, 
it having been five days since we had eaten anything 
at all. We are now recruited and feel quite well. 
We have been quite well with very little exception 
ever since we left home. We were placed in the care 
of Captain Baxter of the ninth regiment, Company 
H, who is detailed at this place with his company 
to keep the prisoners, and who merits our grateful 
thanks for his kindness to us. He kept us under 
guard for some days and then told us he should take 
the guard away only when we had occasion to walk 
out of doors, also that we might walk where we 



266 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

pleased over the house. In short, we are treated with 
a great deal of sympathy by all the soldiers in Bax- 
ter's comj)any. 

" Do not be discouraged, but look forward with an 
eye of faith, my dearest ones, and I humbly trust that 
better days will soon arise. Bless and kiss the chil- 
dren for me, and tell them, — oh, how much I love 
them ! 

" Direct your letter to Kinston, Lenoir Co., N. C. 

"H. M. HOCKETT." 
To Rachel Hockett. 

Following their release from starvation, General 
Ransom on recovering from his illness returned to his 
command, and our Friends were again severely tried 
as the following letter, written to their father, will 
show : 

Kinston, N. C, Fifth mo., 25th, 1863. 

" Dp:ar Father : We have not received any ac- 
count from you since we wrote you last, which we 
expected to have done this evening ; neither have we 
received any account of the box which you pro])osed 
to send us. We suggest that you send no such thing 
without a pilot, which, perhaps, would not pay at pres- 
ent, as you could afford us but little relief in all 
probability by coming. 

" We must inform you tliat our sufferings have been 
greatly increased since we last addressed you. Gen- 
eral Ransom has returned. Last Fifth-day we were 
taken out with the other prisoners and required to 
clean up the streets about his quarters, which we re- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 267 

fused to do ; and we were harassed about the streets 
with logs of wood tied on our shoulders for about two 
hours, and then ordered to the guard-house with about 
forty others in the same house. Next day we were 
taken out and required to do some service, which we 
declined, and we were treated in the same way again 
amid the scoffs of many spectatoi-s. Then they ordered 
us separated. Jesse was taken down to tlie old jail 
and I to the guard-house, which is a large old store- 
room, full of vermin and almost every offensive thing, 
with one open door and two windows in the east. 
Owing to the crowded and filthy condition of the room 
it is a noisome and unhealthy place. The weather 
being diy and hot it is difficult to breathe in here of 
an evening. The prisoners are all falling away owing 
to the scant fare and confinement. 

" I have not seen Jesse since Sixth-day morning, 
nor heard from him since Seventh-day morning. The 
jail is said to be a worse room for hot weather than 
this, and desperate for filth. 

" I do not think it is so much the general's orders 
as the ambitions of a few young officers under him 
that cause us to be used as we are. They all insist 
that we should pay out. We are told that the two 
generals, Hill and Ransom, declare their intention of 
keeping us till the war ends, at all events, and we 
have little hope of getting off short of that. We can 
only rely upon the mercy and power of God to sustain 
us, though I do not see that we can do much for the 
credit of our Society in such a place of confusion as 
this, as there is continual rioting, fiddling, dancing, 



268 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

swearing and drinking, — frequently among the offi- 
cers. 

" But enougli of this ! I have written in great con- 
fusion, but hope to be able to write to better satisfac- 
tion next time. 

" H. M. HOCKETT." 

Returning to the journal we find the following : 
" While we were enjoying comparative quiet within 
our prison, horrible tragedies were going on without. 
Two men were sentenced by court-martial to be shot 
for desertion. As we sat by the window we saw the 
doomed men march down the street to the place of 
execution, surrounded by a seemingly thoughtless 
multitude. The infantry and cavalry were there to 
witness the awful spectacle, that the lesson of obedi- 
ence to military authority might be impressed upon 
the soldiers. 

"On the fifteenth of Fifth month our old guard 
was removed and we were placed under the care of 
General Daniel, who ordered us before him and sternly 
demanded whether we were ready to comply with his 
requisitions. We answered in the negative, and told 
him if it was wrong at first it was wrong now. He 
said he was a man of few words and wished to know 
no more about our creed than he already knew, but as 
we were so conscientious he would respect our scru- 
ples thus far ; he would not arm us nor require us to 
take any one's life, but woidd put us in a position to 
save the lives of those who were loyal to our cause by 
placing us in the front of the next battle, where we 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 269 

would serve as breastworks to stop bullets. We told 
him that we would prefer to suffer wrong rather 
than to do wrong and the responsibility would not be 
on us, after which he thoughtfully replied : ' No, I 
suppose the responsibility will not be on you.' 

" At this moment I looked upon him with pity 
rather than with feelings of resentment for any treat- 
ment we had received, realizing that the time for ' an 
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ' was passed 
away. 

" General Daniel was soon ordered to assist Gen- 
eral Lee, and before the time came for us to act 
as ' breastworks to stop bullets ' he was killed in 
battle. 

" On the 21st we were ordered to clear up the yard 
and cultivate flowers for the preservation of health, 
as the officers told us, and they said that this coidd in 
no way interfere with our scruples. We at once saw 
their motive, which was to have us commit ourselves 
to their authority. We told them that they had no 
right to demand of us, who were prisoners, such ser- 
vice as would lead directly to military requirements. 
The under-officer was much enraged, and after a time 
told us that he had reported us to headquarters, and 
that we were ordered to be shot that day at two 
o'clock ; that until that time we were to ' pack logs.' 
The soldiers then brought some logs and required us 
to take them up and carry them, which was a punish- 
ment frequently imposed for various offenses. We 
told them that we felt under no obligations to impose 
self-punishment, and could not do so. The soldiers 



270 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

tied tliem to us and marched us up and down the 
street. 

" There was with us at that time a man named 
Blackmore, a Baptist, who refused to bear arms for 
the same reason as ourselves. He was soon after re- 
moved, and we understood that he died in camp. 

" As we were marched up and down the street an 
army-officer stepped up to us and asked why our con- 
sciences did not extend into our legs, saying : ' I see 
you carry the logs, and it would be much easier to 
carry a musket.' I replied that we compromised no 
principle ; that we went up and down the street as 
prisoners, not as soldiers ; that there was no example 
in Scripture where the apostles or disciples of Christ 
refused to go when taken as prisoners by the ruling- 
authorities ; on all occasions they endured the penalty 
where they could not conscientiously submit to the 
laws, but that they always asserted the duty and right 
to obey God rather than men. His countenance 
changed and he walked away, and I never saw him 
again. 

"At our first appearance many wicked expressions 
were heard, such as ' wearing the yoke ', ' bearing the 
cross of Christ,' etc., but this was soon changed, and 
when the logs were removed it was done with tender 
hands. Our pardon was asked by some who had been 
the most unkind. So these punishments intended as 
scourges seemed more like jewels. No more was said 
of the shooting, which was to have taken place at two 
o'clock. 

" Amid all, the Lord favored us to possess our souls 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 271 

in patience, and our feeling of kindness caused every 
one to wonder, and we believe was the means of con- 
vincing many, both soldiers and citizens. 

" Soon after this, the officers separated us. My 
brother, Jesse D. Hockett, was sent to the old city jail, 
where he was kept for some time in the dungeon, a 
dark and doleful place for a man. I was kept among 
other prisoners. On one occasion I was allowed to 
visit Jesse, after which he was returned to the guard- 
house. Our health was now very j^oor. 

" On the eleventh of Sixth month, 1863, I was 
summoned to appear for trial by court-martial. I 
appeared on the thirteenth. The charges read were : 
' Positive disobedience to orders when required to take 
arms and dinll.' 

" The judge-advocate asked me if I wished a law^- 
yer to plead my case. I told hini I did not wish it. 
He said my case was a grave one, and I had better 
have a lawyer. One could be had for f 100. I told 
him if allowed to speak for myself that was all the de- 
fense I asked. He said I could have that privilege. 
I then asked if that was the only charge there was 
against me. They said it was. I then asked if I 
gave no reason for refusing to drill. The lieutenant 
had been called to prove tliat I refused to drill. He 
was now called again to answer my cpiestion, and he 
said that I did ; that it was on account of religious 
scruples. I then told them that was no more than I 
had a constitutional right to do. They replied that 
the military code made no such provision. I said that 
was very likely, but the constitution was jjotent over 



272 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

all laws of government, and no law could be rightfully 
enacted inconsistent therewith. The constitution as 
it then was secured to every man the right to liberty 
of conscience. I then asked if it was not known that 
I came into camp as a prisoner on account of religious 
scruples ; if ever there was a charge against me for 
not answering at roll-call except when reported on the 
sick list, or if I had ever attempted in any way to es- 
cape the custody of the authorities that held me. To 
this he replied : ' I never knew of any cause of com- 
plaint outside of the charges preferred against you.' 

" Among the many intriguing, ironical questions 
asked me was this : ' How was it that William Penn, 
one of the most distinguished men of your sect, so 
successfully fought the Indians in defense of his rights, 
if you cannot fight on the defensive ? ' It had been 
his understanding that Penn won great victories over 
the Indians. I told him if such was the case, he had 
been grossly misinformed ; that neither William Penn 
nor any of his religious adherents had ever been re- 
sponsible for one drop of Indian blood ; that he 
resorted to no carnal weapons, but overcame his ene- 
mies by the spirit that overcomes evil with good. I 
further told them that the State of North Carolina 
was first largely settled by Friends ; that the Indians 
regarded them as the peaceable sons of Penn and 
there was no war with them. After an extended in- 
terview, which seemed to interest all parties, I was 
returned to my prison-quarters to await the decision 
of the court-martial. This tribunal was composed of 
officers selected from a Georgia brigade who were very 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 273 

little acquainted with Friends or tlieir principles. But 
they seemed more ready to hear and learn than many 
of larger acquaintance with them, but whose jealousy 
and prejudice in war times ran higher. During the 
trial I felt that there was much sympathy on their 
part with me, and all the courtesy was extended to me 
that could be shown toward a prisoner, although fre- 
quent allusions were made by the members of the 
court to the stringency of the laws they were under 
and the oath they had taken, 

" On the 22d inst. we were kindly visited by our 
dear friends, William Cox (a Friend minister) and 
Lazarus Pearson, by whom we sent letters home. 
Hitherto we had been denied the privilege of receiv- 
ing or sending letters unless they were examined by 
military officers. 

" On the 2Gth our dear friend, Needham Perkins 
(a Friend minister), also visited us and furnished us 
with a good supply of tracts, which we distributed 
among the soldiers. They seemed to appreciate them 
and gladly read them, while those sent from Charles- 
ton teaching that war was right were carelessly 
thrown away or used in lighting their pipes. 

" On the 3d of Seventh month, 1863, we fell into the 
hands of a new provost-guard, and had a repetition of 
former experiences. We received this day an accept- 
able and cheering letter from W. T. Cox. I was 
taken sick on the 7th, and for several days remained 
very ill, during which time my brother was badly 
abused and punished severely for refusing to do mili- 
tary service. 



274 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" Ou the 3d of Eighth month I was called out on 
dress-parade to receive with others the sentence of 
the court-martial. For desertion some were to have 
the letter D branded indelibly on their bodies, three 
inches broad. This was done in my presence with a 
hot iron, accompanied by the screams of the unhappy 
victims. There were similar jiunishments for other 
offenses. At last my turn came. I was sentenced to 
six months' hard labor in one of the military forts, 
bound with heavy ball and chain. Some of the sol- 
diers who had a high regard for and deep sympathy 
with me said they believed the sentence of the court- 
martial was in my case grossly perverted. They had 
overheard a conversation of the officers, from which 
tliey gathered that no sentence had been jjassed on 
me, and that clemency had been recommended. I was 
informed that all the officers accorded with this until 
it reached Jefferson Davis, who refused to sign the 
decision and recommended that examples be made of 
all offenders, by adequate punishment. 

" A prisoner who was tried by the same court- 
martial, the next day after my trial, told me on his 
return to prison that they were going to clear me. I 
asked why, and he replied : ' The first question they 
asked me was, " Are you a Quaker ? " I told them 
I was not, to which one of them said : " I am glad of 
that, for I never want anything more to do with them 
on this account." ' 

" They claimed to have charges against my brother, 
but he was never summoned before this tribunal. 

" On the 6th of Eighth month a new guard was 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 275 

appointed, and on the 7th we were ordered to assist 
in unloading- ordnance ears for the government, and 
the officers ordered that we shoukl be pierced four 
inches deep with bayonets if we refused. On declin- 
ing to do this service my brother was pierced cruelly 
with bayonets, while I was hung up by the thumbs 
almost clear of the ground. After I had remained 
in this suffering position for some time, the corporal 
was told that he had no orders to tie up either of us, 
but to pierce us with bayonets, and that he had better 
obey orders. So I was untied and pierced with a 
bayonet, though slightly, perhaj)s on account of having 
already suffered unauthorized punishment. 

" On the 9th I took leave of my brother in the 
prison at Kinston, N. C, where we had together en- 
dured much suffering, and was taken to Fort Caswell 
to receive the sentence of the court-martial. That 
night we were lodged in prison at Wilmington, and the 
next day took a boat to Fort Caswell. On the morn- 
ing after my arrival I felt that it would be right to 
ask an interview with the commanding colonel, from 
a conviction of duty. My request was kindly granted 
and we had a pleasant interview, and I have always 
thought it a beneficial one. Colonel Jones seemed to 
be a man of more reason and discretion than many 
of his class, and his memory I shall ever cherish. 

" I told him I sought the interview in order to ex- 
plain to him the reasons why I could not comply with 
the demands upon me. He said that he had received 
a long communication from headquarters concerning 
my case, and thought he well understood the situa- 



276 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

tion, but was instructed to carry out tlie sentence. 
He asked why we Friends could not furnish substi- 
tutes or do other government work if we were con- 
scientious about bearing arms. I answered : ' Sup- 
jjose I had an antipathy against thee and it was in 
my heart to take thy life, but not being desperate 
enough to do it myself, I, for one hundred or one 
thousand dollars, hired some ruffian to do it. Who 
would be responsible for thy blood ? ' To this he 
replied that I would be, of course, if I were the sole 
instigator of his death. 

" I then told him it was for this reason that we 
coukl not hire substitutes, who pledged themselves to 
shed blood, as the common duty of a soldier. Again, 
as fortifications are needful in time of war, should 
we take the place of soldiers to build them ? They 
would be placed in the ranks in our stead and sent to 
kill men. We, knowing these results, do not feel free 
to do a soldier's work. 

" We had much discussion following this, upon the 
subject of war, and admirably different was the colo- 
nel's conduct toward me from that of most of the offi- 
cers before whom I had been, who refused to hear any 
excuses on account of religion, saying they knew as 
much as they wanted to know on that subject. 

" Colonel Jones said the reasons I gave were sin- 
cere, and he felt disposed to favor me all he could. 
But he was not there to make laws, but to execute 
such orders as he received from higher authority, and 
he had taken an oath to that effect. 

" I tokl him I was not requiring him to take any 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 211 

undue responsibility on himself. If it was right for 
him to take his high office and to perform the attend- 
ant acts of office, with any of which I could not com- 
ply, I was there to suffer the penalty ; but it was the 
privilege and duty of Christians to give a reason for 
their faith and the hope that is within them. 

" To all this he listened meditatively, but said he 
would have to send me to the prison. After a few 
hours the police came to take me to the smith-shop 
outside the fort, with orders to have me manacled 
with a chain to my leg, attached to a heavy ball. 
This was done with more apparent emotion on the 
part of the workman than on mine. The interview 
with the colonel had baen overheard by outsiders, and 
word seemed to have run through the entire camp 
that there was a Christian prisoner brought in on 
account of his religion. 

" At first the place seemed to me to be the worst I 
had ever seen, and the colonel had told me at the first 
of our interview that they had outlaws from the army 
and others of the worst class of men, yet I found 
more sympathy and kind treatment than at any other 
place. For several days I was not called for by the 
officer of the day, whose business it was to assign men 
work. 

" Plenty of opportunity was offered me for the dis- 
cussion of the war question. One man asked what 
would become of a nation if it should be invaded by 
another and none were ready to defend it. I an- 
swered that if the people were right on both sides 
there would be no need of defense, and if one side 



278 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

were wrong the Lord would protect tlie right, if they 
trusted in Him, for ' Vengeance is mine ; I will re- 
pay, saith the Lord.' But when we sought to defend 
ourselves, we had no right to depend upon Divine pro- 
tection. The Hebrews under Pharaoh were not re- 
sponsible for one drop of blood that was shed in the 
exit from Egypt. The Lord delivered them, for they 
trusted in Him. 

" He rej)lied that we coidd not get nations to think 
alike, so we must take things as we find them. I told 
him the question should be whether the thing were 
right or wrong ; if wrong, we should not do evil, that 
good might come, but overcome evil with good. He 
replied that these arguments would do in time of 
peace, but the nations would have to be wonderfully 
reformed before these plans would work ; it would be 
an imjiossibility to change the minds of the peo]3le at 
once. I replied that individuals must begin the work 
of enlightening the people on the impolicies, injustice, 
and folly of war, as well as upon the conflict between 
its spirit and the precepts of the gospel. Being a 
little stirred, he said that the Bible sanctions war ; 
that David was a man after God's own heart, and he 
was a great warrior, for while Saul slew his thousands, 
David slew his tens of thousands, and destroyed his 
enemies by force of arms. I told him that the Bible 
was full of prophecies pointing to the advent of Christ 
as the Prince of Peace, upon whose shoulders should 
be the government ; that we were now in the gospel 
days when swords are to be beaten into ploughshares, 
and sj^ears into pruninghooks ; that Christ in his 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 279 

teaching- clearly corroborated the proi^hecies, saying : 
' It was said by them of old time, " an eye for an eye 
and a tooth for a tooth," but I say unto you, resist not 
evil.' Saint Paul, the chiefest of the apostles, with 
truly inspired knowledge of the Gospel, testifies : 
'The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but 
mighty through God to the pulling down of the 
strongholds,' while the effects of carnal warfare are 
continually demoralizing instead of christianizing men. 

" These and similar interviews were repeated for 
days, as new officers came in, and I seemed favored 
with ready answers, sometimes to my own astonish- 
ment, for it was not of me, but of Him in whom I 
trusted, and to Him be all the glory. 

" After the arguments of the people about me for 
war were exhausted, they manifested an increased in- 
terest to learn more of the history and views of the 
Friends from the Christian prisoner, as I was called. 
There seemed manifest on the ])a.vt of the guards a 
desire to have the opportunity of guarding me in and 
out of the fort, and no o2:>portunity was lost for ear- 
nest inquiry after truth. 

" The orderly-sergeant seemed to be a man of ten- 
der regard, who treated me with resjject, and often 
went with me instead of sending a man. When I 
was released from the fort and sent back to Wilming- 
ton, he went with me to the boat instead of sending 
a police guard, and remained with me several hours 
in pleasant conversation until the boat started. He 
then bade me an affectionate adieu, with best wishes 
for my welfare and safety. 



280 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" The fort was surrounded by a wall of sand and 
turf, perhaps thirty feet high or more, with huge can- 
non mounted on its parapets. Within were gloomy 
prisons filled with guilty culprits behind ponderous 
iron doors, and an array of soldiers without. Yet, not- 
withstanding its gloomy appearance, it seemed to me 
as a secret hiding-place, and my chains as jewels, for 
they were taken as an evidence of my suffering for 
Christ's sake. 

" After having remained here about a week, which 
was spent in writing letters for the soldiers and con- 
versing about religion with many inquirers, I was 
informed by the sergeant that if I had awy prepara- 
tions to make before leaving the fort, I had better be 
doing it, as the colonel had decided to send me back 
to Wihnington. I was soon called for and taken to 
the shop. As the smith was absent at roll-call, a 
crowd soon gathered, anxiously questioning as to what 
the results would be. Only words of kindness and 
sympathy were heard. When told of the order to 
remove my chain, the smith said : ' In the first place, 
it ought never to have been put on such a man, and 
I consider it a burning shame to humanity.' He has- 
tily cut the chain and dashed it away with seeming 
contempt. His words and actions caused me to feel 
some anxiety on his account, for at Kinston, where I 
had been so long, they would have been regarded as 
treasonable. 

" I was satisfied that I had the sympathy of the 
colonel, and that he had the chain put on me as the 
lightest form of punishment to which he could resort 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 281 

under the circumstances, and no work was at any time 
required of me. I had been sent to Fort Caswell 
under the custody of three armed soldiers, but Colonel 
Jones sent me back to Wilmington in care of a single 
guard. 

"On arriving in Wilmington, at ten o'clock at 
night. Major Sparrow, the provost-marshal at that 
time, refused to admit me that night, saying there was 
so much sickness, and so many were off duty in con- 
sequence, he could not furnish a guard. So my 
escort said we would have to return to the boat, 
which was fastened to the wharf. He remarked that 
he would have to guard me all night, not that he had 
any fear of me, but that it might not be well for him 
to be found off duty or asleep. I answered that I 
was aware of his responsibility as a soldier, and did 
not wish in any way to subject him to punishment, 
but I had a couple of blankets with me and felt like 
sleeping, so if he cared to sleep with me all would be 
well. He replied that he thought he would risk it, so 
placing his gun in one corner, he slept with me, more 
like friend with friend than prisoner and guard. In 
the morning I procured water and shaved and washed. 
I asked him if he would like to shave, and he gladly 
accepted the invitation, saying it was not often that 
the opportunity was offered him. 

" He asked me many questions concerning the prin- 
ciples and doctrines of Friends, and I answered them 
as best I could. He inquired why they were not 
more generally known, and said he had only heard of 
the Quakers or Friends in rather a disparaging way. 



282 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

and knew but little about them. He said he would 
like to learn more about them, and asked me to send 
him some books setting forth their doctrine, if we 
ever got through this war. I had with me a good 
supply of tracts, expressing their views and Christian 
doctrines, and he received them gladly. At the 
proper time he delivered me to Major Sparrow and 
bade me an affectionate farewell. 

*' Major Sparrow was one of the pleasantest men 
I ever met, I conversed with him concerning the 
troubles of the times, and he said many things that 
surprised me. He placed me behind the iron doors, 
as I felt, not from his own choice, but from the neces- 
sity of the occasion. 

•■'The next day, 8/17, 1863, my brother Jesse was 
very unexpectedly brought to my prison. I had left 
him at Kinston. He knew of no reason for his being 
sent to Major Spari'ow. He was received kindly, the 
guards were dismissed, and Major Sparrow told him 
to sit down and wait until he had time to talk to him. 
He had many questions to ask concerning our history, 
and said : ' I think it would have been best if we had 
all been Quakers, so far as to have averted these 
calamities that are upon us.' 

" Behind the ponderous iron doors we heai'd little 
of the disturbances without, except from prisoners of 
either army who were brought into the prison, 

" For some unknown reason we were next sent 
to Goldsboro and placed in the guard-house there, 
but in a few days we were called out to the camp 
of the artillery company, in which we weie placed 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 283 

at Kinston, it having' been removed to a place near 
Goldsboro. 

" The first lieutenant required us to take arms and 
drill at once, and if we refused, he said we should be 
transferred to another general who had expressed a 
desire to have some Quakers to ' show that he could 
bring us into subjugation,' and who ' would tie a rock 
to our necks and pitch us into the river the first 
time his orders were disobeyed.' We kindly dis- 
sented from his orders, and he sent us back to the 
guard-house, after which we were kindly treated as 
prisoners by all with whom we had to do. Colonel 
Pool was even more kind than the duties of his office 
strictly allowed. 

" When my wife and little son came to the city to 
visit me, he, without any solicitation, sent for me to 
report at his office, and kindly offered me a furlough, 
good for twenty -four hours, to pass anywhere in the 
city of Goldsboro to procure comfortable quarters for 
them, the furlough to be renewed each evening at 
nine o'clock, as long as my wife had a mind to stay in 
the city. On thanking him for his courtesy and kind- 
ness to me, only a Christian prisoner, he replied : 
' No occasion. It is my duty to do as I would be 
done by, and your captain has told me that you were 
a man worthy of full confidence.' 

" From time to time during our stay here we were 
visited by our friend William Cox, the minister before 
alluded to, who lived sixteen miles away, and by 
numbers of other Friends. They brought us pro- 
visions, etc. 



284 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" Such was the opportunity for discourse with 
prisoners of both armies, as they were being passed 
back and forth, tliat it seemed more hke opening a 
mission-iield tlaan being in a military prison. Our 
time was often occupied with such interesting reli- 
gious service as to leave us the assurance that it had 
not all been spent for naught." 

" On the tenth of Eleventh month, 1863, we were 
discharged by the authorities, having remained in this 
prison since the twenty -first of Eighth month. As we 
were now set at full liberty, we repaired to our homes, 
where we found our families well, thankful for the 
protection and many favors we had received from 
the Father of all our sure mercies during the many 
trying ordeals through which we had passed." 

Himelius and Jesse Hockett had been kept from 
their homes one year, seven months and six days. 
During this time their wives had ploughed the fields 
and raised crops to support their families, and had 
manufactured their clothing from cotton and wool 
grown upon their little farms. H. M. Hockett's 
wife's health was impaired, and she has never been 
as well as before, but still these sisters speak with 
pride of their husbands' loyalty to their principles, 
and rejoice that they were enabled to do that which 
fell to their lot, though hardship and trial w^ere theirs. 
They have since been favored to see their children 
grow up around them, have families of their own and 
become successful citizens, while upon their old home- 
stead they quietly enjoy their declining years, rejoicing 
in the peaceful days that have come to their South- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 285 

land. They know that the day will soon come when 
they will be summoned to a higher tribunal than that 
of any military court. As they continue to put their 
trust in the same Almighty Friend who sustained them 
in the dark days of privation and suffering, they 
humbly believe that by grace, through faith in the 
Prince of Peace, they will be presented faultless 
before the Father with exceeding great joy. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Prayer-strengthened for the trial, come together, 

Put on the harness for the moral fight, 

And with the blessing of your Heavenly Father 

Maintain the right. 

Whittier. 

We have now followed tlie three Ilockett brothers 
of Centre meeting through their trying experiences. 
There were other members of that meeting, who had 
been with them at school and had met with them from 
week to week since boyhood in the old log meeting- 
house on the hill. They were of the same blood and 
faith, and were as willing as the brothers to sacri- 
fice their lives for their faith. They were genuine 
disciples of George Fox, of whom the soldiers said : 
" He is as pure as a bell ; as stiff as a tree." Many 
were pressed into the army, but none of them could 
be made to fight. 

Simon Kemp was taken to Drury's Bluff and at- 
tached to the 5th North Carolina regiment. As he 
refused to receive the bounty money, equipments or 
clothing, after weeks of trial and imjarisonment, he 
was allowed to pay the tax. 

Solomon and Kelby Hodgin hid in the woods for a 
long time, but finally paid the <f500. Job Leonard, 
Lewis and Joshua Reynolds paid the tax. Abner 
Lamb went to the salt-works. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 287 

Eliliu and Isaiah Cox, David Chamness, Nathan 
Watkins, Simeon Barker and David Wilson were 
sent to cut wood for the railroad. The State, owning 
the road, had given out a large contract for wood to 
be prepared for the engines, and men needed to do 
the work were detailed under State authority. 

Springfield meeting was about eight miles from 
Centi'e, and this neighborhood, too, was visited by the 
soldiers, searclihig for those who did not intend to go 
to war unless compelled to do so. 

The first Bible school ever held in the State of 
North Carolina was held here in 1822 by Allen U. 
Tomlinson. He was a prominent Friend when the 
war began, interested in every good word and work. 
He had been the superintendent of this school since 
its beginning, and it was said to have been the only 
one held in that part of the country during the war. 
After the war closed he held a Bible school celebra- 
tion. It was attended by Governor Worth, who made 
an address, during which, in contrasting the influences 
of peace and war, he said : " This is the only green 
spot in North Carolina." 

The school enrolled three hundred, and was very 
largely attended. Many persons, both old and young, 
here learned to read and study the Bible. "Uncle 
Allen," as all the country about called him, was be- 
coming too old to act as superintendent. After more 
than forty years' service he was succeeded by his son 
Sidne}'', but so long as he was able to go he attended 
the school. For about sixty successive years this 
father and son served the school, the son dying at his 



::SS SOVTHERy HEROES. 

jKvst just as ho had finishoil a blaoklnvvnl oxenMso 
illiistRitiug the day's lossoii. Stoppiiiii' baok to Un^k 
at it, he was taken with seveiv heart tivuble. He 
seateil himself on a form near by and jvvsstnl away 
befort^ any one eowld ivali/e his eonditioii or do any- 
thing for hhii. " I'nek AUeii " had gone to his home 
above some years Ivfoxv. 

Paring the N\"^\r Allen U. Tou\linson and sons ear- 
rieil on a lai-go tannery and sluH^faetory, and by this 
means kept a groat many out of the war by having 
them detaiknl to ilo their work. 

This shoe-faotory workevl np their own mannfaeture 
of leather into shoos, and also most of the Lwther 
lu-onght into the port of Wihningtou, N. (.\. by the 
steamer Advanee, whieh sneeessftdly ran the bloeknile 
below Wilmington for a long time. Some FritMuls 
belonging to Springfield meeting iU\ lined to pay the 
tax. and were earriod to the army or taken to guard 
prisoners at Salisbnry, bnt they stood tirm to their 
faith, and beeame a bnrden to the otbeers ami the 
army rather than a help. Pining the last f\vi> years 
of the war. Allen T. Tomliiison spent most o( his time 
in visiting the authorities anil in sei'uriug tho reU>ase 
of Friends. 

Enos A. Blair, a nuMuber o( Springli(>ld nn^et- 
ing, was arrested, but tinally sueeeinled iu obtaining 
exemption ]Kipers. His son, Frank S. Blair, t^nly 
seventeen years old, was eonserijUed while at school, 
and his father paid the tax fi>r him alst). 

One day while Sidney Tomlinson ami other Friends 
were riding home from meeting on hi>rseba«'k, a 



SOII'lllh.ltN IllJtOlCS. 2H0 

niMiilicr ol iiHii l)(Ioii;.'i)iM to WIi<<I<i'h 'r<;x;i.H <;;i,v;i.lry 
ro<l<! II)) ;ui<l (•()iii))<ll(;(| lliciii to (li;-;i/ioiiiil.. TIm; \wm 
took l,li(;Ir lior,H(;H, wlii<;Ji W(;c<; (;xl,r;i. p;oo(| on<;;i, ;i,U(| l(;ft 
our IVifMidH l,o w;i,ll{ lioin*;. (ji<;ii«;i;il .ioliii;-iio)i'H ;i,riny 
w;i,H <'iic;i,irij)(:(| loc <l;i,ys in Uiin n<'i;^lil)orlioo<l, ;iti(| 
IJiicIf Allfii 'I'o)iiliii;<oii';i liou.ic w;i,H li<;ul'ju;ut(;r;s loi' 
(/III! of'lic,«;rM ;i.ll I,Im; i\uu: tiic uruiy w;iH ili<;r«;. 

Not only vvcji! tli«; (»iov(;in(;ntH of ni<;ri <;loH(;ly 
w;i,t<li(<|, Ijiit tlific vvord.H wen; ;i,h cMH-.UiWy noti<;<;(l. 
()n(! waH liij,l)I(; to arrcnt and j»uniHlini<;nt lor uny un 
f^ijar(l<t(l ntt(;i'an(;(! aj^ainst tJi<! (.'onf<;»Jr;r;w,y. It may 
Ix', well to iiiHcrt lien; .'in inHtanf,*; of tluH kind, an an 
illn:sti;ilion ol IIjc |)iiiii;-ilifn';nt iiict<;d out to those wlio 
w<!r(! not HiiffiriiMitly <;andiil in tliin n;;i)j(;(;t to watinfy 
tli<! military aiitlioriticH. 

A yoiin^' man who had onf;<! I>(;(;n a l''ri<;nd waH 
forc<;d into the artriy and cnt'-i-cfj ii|)on inilit.'uy diitieH, 
thouj^li r(!lu<;tantly, for Ik; waH at lurart not only op- 
[)OH<;d to th(! war hut aJHO loyal to tin; Union. ()i\ on<; 
occianion, amid his HiippoHc;*! fricndH, he remarked that 
he wi-ilied ;i,ll the men, North ;i,nd South, would ^r> 
home :ind leiive the luhtrH who hroij;4ht on tlx; wai' to 
fi;^ht it out. TImh H|)(;eeh, jjoHHihly in an exaj:jgcrated 
foi'm, was re|)ort<-d to the ofliefirH ; the man was tried 
hy eouit-m:irti;il ;ind senteneed to he shot ;it noon th;it 
d;iy. lie wrote a, few words of farewell to his wife 
and mf<th(!r, wliieh were, <;ndorse<l l»y the ehiiphiin of 
tlu! I'ej^iment, ;ind aeeordin^- to the, sentenee of the 
eoiirt martini he w;is shot. lint he w;is not the only 
one who sullered ; thr; sad tidings eause.d the death of 
his mothei- and the overthrow of his wifc'H rcUHon. 



290 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

In this connection we will give the account of Rufus 
P. King, a man now well known among Friends 
throughout the world, but who was not in those days 
aware o£ such a people as the Friends or known by 
them. He was taught of God the principles of peace, 
and has been teaching them so faithfully since the 
dark days of_his youth, in different lands, that those 
who know him would be disappointed if these pages 
contained no account of the Lord's gracious care of 
and dealings with him. The facts here given were 
obtained from him for publication in this work, 
though he gave them reluctantly, and consented only 
with the thought that some good might be done by 
way of encouraging Cthers to faithfulness. 

He was born near Chapel Hill, N. C, April 15, 
1843. Early in life he was obliged to earn his own 
living and had poor opportmiities. 

He was one of the first to be drafted early in the 
year 1862, before he was nineteen years old. He was 
thus called to fight a people of whom he knew nothing, 
and against whom he had no complaint ; and to battle 
for the continuation of a system with which he had 
no unity. Indeed, he says, he had often noticed that 
the slaves produced the wealth of the whites, yet while 
they lived in luxury, the slave was obliged to put up 
with the coarsest of food, and oftentimes with miser- 
able accommodations. 

He was attached to the eleventh North Carolina 
regiment, then stationed on the coast near Wilming- 
ton, with Pettigrew's brigade. In the early autumn 
his captain was taken sick, and as Euf us was of a 




RUFUS I'. KING 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 291 

sympathetic nature, ever ready to help in sickness, the 
captain chose him to serve as his nurse. It was soon 
discovered that the captain had the yellow fever, and 
he was sent to the hospital. From there he was taken 
to his home at Chapel Hill, N. C, and Rufus accom- 
panied him thither. At Goldsboro it became known 
that the captain had the dreaded disease, and it was 
with difficulty that they could get on the train for 
Durham. The car which they finally entered was 
given up to them entirely, except by an old colored 
man who crouched in the far corner. 

On the journey Captain Jennings died with all the 
horrors of a death by yellow fever. Arriving at Dur- 
ham early in the day, the trainmen were obliged to 
assist Rufus in removing the heavy body of the cap- 
tain from the car to the warehouse. There Rufus 
proceeded to prepare the body for burial. The cause 
of the officer's death soon became known in Durham 
also, and Rufus was left alone in the prosecution of 
his solemn duties. He succeeded in securing a wagon 
to convey the remains to the home of the widow and 
her daughter, about twelve miles away, and remained 
with them until after the burial. 

His captain being dead, Rufus seems to have known 
no other authority and went home. The death of 
Captain Jennings under such circumstances had made 
a very serious impression upon him. His own deliver- 
ance from taking the fever seemed a Divine favor, 
and he was in a condition to listen to the " old, old 
story." A Methodist protracted meeting was being 
held near his home, and he attended it. He was 



292 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

deeply convicted on account of his past sins, and for 
three days and nights he wept over them. Then 
"casting himseK at the foot of the cross," through 
faith in the precious blood of Jesus, which was shed 
for the remission of sins, he was favored to accept 
Christ as his personal Saviour. He was soon after 
received into the Methodist church. 

Nearly three months passed away before the officers 
of his regiment sent for him, and then his position as 
a soldier, whose business it was to slay his fellow-men, 
became a serious thing to him. He was deeply 
troubled on account of it, and from Thursday night 
until Saturday morning for successive weeks he fasted, 
and prayed that the dear Lord would preserve him 
from taking the life of another. So convinced did he 
sometimes become of the sinfulness of such an act that 
he would have chosen that his own life should be taken 
rather than that he should take the life of any one 
else. After these seasons of prayer and fasting his 
heart was filled with gratitude to God and joys un- 
speakable. The fifth chapter of Matthew was read 
to him by the third lieutenant of his company, who 
was his friend, and so clearly did it answer the con- 
victions of right in his own heart that it comforted 
him greatly. 

We must bear in mind that Rufus was surrounded 
by a military regime ; that his whole life had been 
spent among those who believed in war and who 
practiced slavery ; that he had never known such a 
people as the Friends, and that before his conversion 
he had no teaching upon the principles of peace. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 293 

After giving his heart to Jesus, his teaching had been 
by the Spirit of the Lord and what he had heard read 
from the Bible. 

Having thus seen the wrong of both war and slavery 
he had little faith in secession, and frequently told the 
soldiers that the Northern army would be victorious. 

When the army started for Gettysburg, he was much 
rejoiced at the direct answer to his prayers by being 
released from military duty and assigned to the ambu- 
lance corps. The officers had discovered his qualifi- 
cations as a nurse and concluded that he would be of 
more use in that capacity than with a gun. His duty 
was to care for the wounded, and on the first day of 
the terrible fight at Gettysburg he followed the line of 
battle until men began to fall around him. He then 
assisted them to the rear, constantly returning for 
more. 

At the time the Union line gave way and the South- 
ern men charged on through Gettysburg, his regiment 
was nine hundred strong ; when the three days were 
ended, only three hundred all told could be found. 
Nearly all the officers had been killed. The third 
lieutenant, Rufus's friend, was mortally wounded. As 
Ruf us stood by him on the battle-field wishing to know 
what he could do for him, the lieutenant said : " O 
Rufus, pray for me ! " Kneeling by his side, with the 
bullets still flying around them, for only the second 
time in his life in the hearing of men, he raised his 
voice in prayer for his much loved friend who was 
bleeding and dying by his side. There were other 
poor soldier boys lying about, wounded and dying, to 



294 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

whom the voice of prayer was much more sweet than 
the sound of battle, and many of them crept up where 
they could hear. Rufus was surprised upon conclud- 
ing his prayer to find so many around him. He took 
up his friend and bore him to Willowby's Run, a 
brook near by, and laid him down in the shade of a 
tree. Rufus did all he could for his wounded friend, 
but death soon ended his suffering. 

The shades of night fell upon the field of Gettys- 
burg, and a dreadful night it was to him as well as to 
many others. He busied himself all night, carrying 
water to the sufferers around him. 

The next day his regiment was not engaged, but 
General Longstreet's force which was near them was 
in battle, and as he heard the bands playing "My 
Maryland," "Dixie," and other merry tunes, he 
thought it sadly out of harmony with other scenes and 
sounds of the battle-field. There was the roaring of 
cannon as they sent iron balls and bombs on their 
errand of death ; the noise of musketry, as men were 
engaged in pouring leaden hail into the ranks of other 
men ; the clashing of small arms in the more close and 
deadly combat of men who fought each other as wild 
beasts, although they had no real cause of enmity 
against each other. 

The effect upon Rufus was such that he has never 
liked to hear a band since that time. Though he knew 
little then of the prophets or their utterances, he 
realized the truth of the prophet's saying: "Every 
))attle of the warrior is with confused noise and gar- 
ments rolled in blood." Much more agreeable to him 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 295 

than the noise of battle or the playing o£ bands is the 
recitation of poeti-y like this : 

" Hasten, great Father, the bless'd consiimraation 
When nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
When war is no longer the Christian's vocation, 
When the spear shall be shivered, and broken the bow ; " 

or like this from Longfellow : 

" Down the dark future, tlirongh long generations, 
The echoing sounds grow fainter and then cease ; 
And like a bell, with solemn, sweet vibrations, 
I hear once more the voice of Christ say, ' Peace ! ' 
Peace ! and no longer from its brazen portals 
The blast of War's great organ shakes the skies ; 
But beautifid as the songs of the immortals, 
The holy melodies of love arise." 

In the third day's fight his regiment was engaged, 
and he describes the scene as being terrible indeed ; 
but other pens have described the battle of Gettys- 
burg, and we will not undertake it. It is stated that 
for a mile upon that field one could have walked upon 
the bodies of the slain. As Lee's army retreated, the 
road was for a mile strewn on each side with wounded 
and dying Southern men. Toucliing indeed were 
their appeals for help, and that some message might 
be sent to their loved ones at home. But the retreat- 
ing soldiers had no time to hear the message, or to 
soothe and comfort the dying, as they rushed past 
seeking their own safety. 

Little do we realize, as we listen to or read the ac- 
counts of " the glories of war," of that hidden picture, 
that terrible scene of carnage, suffering and death so 
largely kept in the background, where, overlooked 



296 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

and unrecorded, are the details of individual suffering 
and death. One sentence, giving the number of 
" killed and wounded," indicates more than can be 
compensated for by all the glories that can be gained 
by any military achievements. Too few think of the 
dying soldier, suffering from wounds and thirst, with 
no hand to give even the cup of cold water so much 
needed ; no pillow upon which to rest his aching head ; 
only the ground to lie upon, in dew or rain or scorch- 
ing sun ; no ear into which he may pour his dying 
message. 

Young men, think of this side of the picture and 
consider well before entering upon the life of a soldier ! 
The uniform soon becomes soiled ; the street parade 
changed to long, weary marches ; instead of the 
smiling faces of friends are the stern ones of an 
enemy. May the rising generation so consider and 
act as to hasten the day when war with all its horrors 
may be forever done away from this land, wherein 
shall dwell righteousness and peace. 

Rufus was cajjtured by the Union troops at Falling 
Water, Gettysburg, and taken to Point Lookout, 
where he remained for more than a year, nursing the 
sick prisoners, and here he closed the eyes of many a 
dying Southern boy. 

In 1864 he was taken with a shipload of exchanged 
prisoners to Savannah, Georgia, from which place he 
soon found his way home, where he thought he might 
remain, but was not allowed to do so. He said he 
felt that he would not take human life for the world, 
and he prayed earnestly that a way might be made for 
his escape. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 297 

Soon after his return to camp, the pickets near him 
acquainted him with their intention to cross over that 
night to the Union army. The pickets being gone 
and all obstructions removed, he concluded that this 
was the door opened for his escape, and he too walked 
over and reported to the Union officers. They were 
favorably impressed with his simplicity and candor, 
but required him to take the oath of allegiance to the 
United States. He told them that, while he was not 
afraid to call on God to witness to the truth of what 
he might say, yet he could not take an oath on ac- 
count of what James said in the Bible. They kindly 
accepted his statements and passed him outside the 
army. 

He now traveled with a companion to Indianapolis, 
where for three days he sought unsuccessfully for 
work. He then started on West, seeking employ- 
ment on the way. At night he crept into a straw 
rick for shelter and sleep. There he sought the guid- 
ing hand of the Lord, and prayed for a home, that he 
might find a place in the hearts of the people, none of 
whom he knew. 

He says that that night was one of blessed commu- 
nion with the Lord. In the morning he traveled ten 
miles, and then called at a house for food and work. 
Here he found a home, where for two years he was 
kindly cared for as an own son. The good woman, he 
says, was a mother to him. Here he first became 
acquainted with the people called Quakers, and at 
Mill Creek, Ind., for the first time in his life he 
attended a Friends' meeting. 



298 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Such kindness and sympathy were manifested to- 
ward him that his heart was quite won. The young 
people became interested in him and took him into 
the Bible school, and there he learned to read. From 
the fullness of his heart he soon began to speak in 
their meeting for worship. In broken sentences and 
in much simplicity of manner he told of the wondrous 
love of God as he had experienced it in his own soul, 
through faith in the blood of Jesus. He applied for 
membership with the Friends, and was received by 
Mill Creek meeting in 1856. 

He then removed to Walnut Ridge, Ind., where he 
attended school for a short time. From there he 
moved to Farmers' Institute, where he was recorded 
as a minister. Since then he has devoted his time 
almost wholly to the preaching of the gospel, and 
has visited, in the service of the Master, not only 
the Friends of America, but those in Great Britain, 
Ireland, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Aus- 
tralia, New Zealand, Syria, and Palestine, — every- 
where preaching the simple gospel of salvation to lost 
sinners, through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ 
shed for the remission of sins. 

He is now making his home with his wife and little 
ones in the Old North State, at Archedale, before 
mentioned. 



CHAPTER XV. 

So let it be. In God's own might 

We gii'd us for the coming fight, 

And, strong in Him whose cause is ours 

In conflict with unholy powers, 

We grasp the weapons He has given, — 

The Light, and Truth, and Love of Heaven. 

Whittier. 

At the beginning of tlie war there were but few 
Friends left in Tennessee. It was easier for them to 
go to the Western States than for those who lived 
over the mountains in North Carolina, and most of 
them did go before hostilities began. 

The few remaining were favored to escape any spe- 
cial notice from the government until the passage of 
the conscription act, November 1st, 1862, whereby 
all male citizens in the State between the aoes of eiffht- 
een and forty-five were oi'dered to appear at their re- 
spective courthouses and be enrolled. The order was 
given by the State authorities, and made it the duty 
of militia officers to arrest as deserters all who failed 
to ajjpear, and to treat them as such after they were 
captured. East Tennessee as a whole was loyal to the 
United States. The appeals of Andrew Johnson, 
Thomas A. R. Nelson, John Baxter and Parson 
Brownlow had been heeded by these honest-hearted 



300 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

mountaineers, and with small exception they main- 
tained their loyalty. 

In Blount County, Tenn., where many Friends 
had lived, the people were not in sympathy with 
secession, and were not willing to be enrolled. As an 
evidence of their loyalty, notwithstanding the terrible 
penalty for failing to present themselves for enroll- 
ment, only about twenty of the one thousand men in 
that county who were required to appear did so. 
Our informer tells us that the others " stampeded to 
Kentucky." 

In Green County was New Hope meeting, eighty- 
five miles east of Knoxville. About twenty Friends 
were left here who were liable to conscription. These 
were not ready to leave their homes. They could not 
fight, and therefore tarried about home until the sol- 
diers began the search for deserters. Five of these 
Friends met the officers with gold, and these five men 
each gave three hundred dollars in place of the five 
hundred dollars in Confederate money, required by 
law, and thus secured exemption papers. 

One of these twenty Friends was James F. Beals, 
a young schoolteacher, who, when a student at 
Friendsville, had been converted to the principles of 
the Gospel as held by the Friends. As the work of 
secession progressed, he watched anxiously the move- 
ments of those around him, and the neighboring seces- 
sionists watched him. He was of leo-al ag-e for a sol- 
dier, and in these days no man coidd long escape being 
counted either for or against the cause of the Con- 
federacy ; there was no neutral ground. Our school- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 301 

teacher was soon " reckoned against them." He was 
enrolled as a member of one of the companies of 
conscripts, and was ordered to ajjpear and muster. 
Instead of complying, he accepted the challenge of a 
graduate from a Virginia college to discuss publicly 
the question, " Resolved, that a Christian shoidd not 
engage in war." Instead of mustering as a soldier, 
he made a speech for " The King." For this he was 
court-martialed and fined. Soon after, while occu- 
pied in his school-room, he was visited by a company 
of soldiers, who ordered him to appear at their head- 
quarters. He was detained but a short time, and 
then allowed to return to his duties. The law at first 
exempted schoolteachers and ministers of the Gospel, 
and under this law they had no right to detain him. 
It was not long, however, before the schoolhouse was 
again visited and surrounded by soldiers. Officers 
entered and arrested the unresisting teacher, and 
all day they kept him with them as they marched 
from house to house, searching for men who might be 
conscripted. Out-builclings, cellars, lofts, and every 
other conceivable place, were searched, as they sought 
for men to take up arms in support of their cause. 

At night the prisoners were kept in camp under 
guard, and in the morning they were taken to the 
enrolling officer, to be assigned to their companies. 
When James F. Beals was presented, he found pres- 
ent the wife of the officer, who was the daughter of a 
prominent Union man, and slie interceded with her 
husband for the release of the schoolteacher, and was 
successful in her plea for him. But he had become a 



302 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

marked man, and was looked upon as an enemy in 
their midst. He had heard of others similarly situ- 
ated being shot, hmig, sent to prison, or forced to the 
front. Knowing that he could not much longer teach 
school at New Hope, he determined to cross the bor- 
ders of the Confederacy the first opportunity. 

A large company of Union men were collected near 
by at the foot of Bay's Mountain, and he, with a num- 
ber of other young men, decided to join them in their 
march westward. The company numbered fifteen 
hundred men, and they hoped by night-marching to 
reach Cumberland Gap, which was then held by the 
Union forces. One morning they were informed that 
a regiment of Confederate cavalry was in pursuit of 
them. They were in no condition to fight, though the 
will of many of them was good for it ; so they took 
the wiser course. Entering the forest they hurried 
on, weary, footsore and hungry, for thirty consecutive 
hours without stopping for rest or food. Wading 
streams, climbing heights, forcing their way through 
thickets, they evaded their pursuers, and reached the 
Federal camp at Cumberland Gap. Here they rested, 
received all necessary attention, and nearly the entire 
company enlisted as United States soldiers. They 
offered to elect James Beals a captain if he would join 
them, but he was not aspiring to militaiy honors, and 
with two other young men he obtained a Federal pass 
and started on his way to Indiana. But Federal 
passes were not recognized by Confederate soldiers, 
and meeting with Eeynolds's brigade, trying to make 
its way to Knoxville, Tenn., they were captured as 



southehn heroes. 303 

spies and taken to headquarters. Being unable to 
prove the charges, they kept them as prisoners, after 
having most rigidly searched them, and then started 
them back to Tennessee. 

Our friend was in no condition for this return 
march, but there was no help for it. Day after day 
he accompanied the soldiers, enduring much suffer- 
ing from their persecution. One drunken officer fre- 
quently threatened to kill him, and would approach 
him with a bayonet, thrusting it as near his throat or 
breast as possible without wounding him, and seeming 
to care but little if he killed him. 

Their food was mainly green corn, gathered by the 
way and roasted in the shuck. This he could not eat, 
and for three days and nights he ate nothing. One 
of these days he was denied any water. Their water 
was taken from muddy streams or ponds. Sometimes 
there were dead bodies of mules half concealed in 
the water from which their supply was taken. The 
weather was very hot (August, 1862), and the roads 
were dry and dusty. They traveled continually in 
a cloud of dust, a part of which would settle in an 
uncomfortable coating upon them. For eight hundred 
miles our friend was made to march, the last three 
hundred miles of the way barefooted, with blistered 
and wounded feet, his shoes having been utterly worn 
out. 

Arriving in KnoxviUe, he was liberated, but was 
soon prostrated with fever. Upon his recovery he 
was granted a permit to go on with his teaching 
for another year. General Burnside reached East 



304 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Tennessee about the time the year expired, and as 
the Southern soldiers were fleeing before him, they 
sent for the teacher ; but he escaped and made his 
way to General Burnside's headquarters at Knoxville. 
He then went to Blount County, where he was com- 
missioned by the Friends to visit Philadelphia and 
other cities to solicit aid, in order that they might 
make a crop, as their food and grain had been so 
entirely consumed that they had no seed. 

Armed with proper credentials from church and 
state, he went to the North and West. The meet- 
ing for sufferings of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting at 
once ordered a check for 11500 to be given him. In 
Cincinnati and other places he procured carloads of 
corn, hominy, beans, meat, etc., which, with the aid 
of the Christian Commission, was transported free of 
charge to Tennessee, and from there distributed in 
season to serve the people in making their crops. 

Our friend Beals became active in the service of 
church and State, serving in various offices his church, 
county. State, and the United States government in 
Washington, D. C. He still lives among his native 
hills, doing the work which comes to him as a Chris- 
tian citizen. 

John Beals, a leading Friend of New Hope meet- 
ing, in Green County, was much troubled concerning 
the situation of the members of his little church. 
He fully realized the danger they were in, and was 
desirous of finding some way to relieve them. While 
walking in his orcbard one day, wondering what could 
be done, and praying for wisdom and guidance, he 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 305 

discovered in the bushes an opening in the ground 
amid the rocks. Upon investigation, he found it to 
be the entrance to a cave, the existence of which 
neither he nor any of his people had ever known. 
Vines so covered its entrance and a tree had fallen 
before it in such a way as to completely hide it from 
the view of a passer-by. The passage was so low and 
narrow that one could only creep along it, and it ab- 
ruptly opened into a large cave, the floor of which 
was slightly lower than the passage. In one corner 
was a spring of excellent water, and quite surprising 
was the fact that the air was remarkably dry and 
pure for such a place. 

Our friend at once began preparations to make the 
cave a place of abode. It served also as a hiding- 
place for provisions, which would otherwise have 
been taken by the soldiers. There were fourteen 
Friends in this neighboi-hood, any one of whom was 
liable to be shot if found by the men who were search- 
ing for them. Soon all of these were hidden in 
" Providence Cave." One of them said : " I do be- 
lieve it was the Lord who guided John Beals to it 
just when it was needed." Hence the name. 

In a recess of the cave the men built rough bed- 
steads, and bedding was furnished by the good house- 
wives. When able to work, the men made shoes and 
did many other such things as could be done under 
the trying circumstances. When it was too cold to 
work, they betook themselves to bed. 

John Beals and the women watched constantly for 
the approach of strangers, and every precaution was 



306 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

taken to keep the hiding-j)lace a secret. Those who 
were hidden never ventured out without approving 
messages from their faithful guardians. Whenever 
strangers or soldiers approached, John Beals was 
usually found hewing a gate-post from the tree which 
had fallen near the cave. He would leave his work 
and come to greet the strangers, who could easily see 
the nature of his occupation from the fallen tree and 
the chips he had made. The noise made by the little 
hewing he had done served to inform the hunted men 
of the approach of the strangers. It took friend 
Beals many months to hew out those gate-posts, but 
he was getting along in years, was too old for con- 
scription into the army, and he was not in urgent need 
of the gate-posts. 

For nearly a year these men lived in this way. At 
last, becoming wearied of voluntary imprisonment and 
such a confined life, they determined to make an effort 
to escape by crossing the woods, hills and streams 
between them and the free West. When an oppor- 
tunity occurred, they accordingly left their home in 
the cave and the friends who had ministered to their 
needs so long, and at great risk attempted to leave 
the land where they coidd not breathe the air of free- 
dom. Some of this company passed the picket lines 
and reached Iowa in safety. Others were not so suc- 
cessful, but were captured after reaching Kentucky 
and sent to the front, where they suffered much per- 
secution and trial before their liberty was secured, 

A boy of nineteen years, the son of a widowed 
mother, whose father had been conscripted and had 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 307 

died in prison from starvation and cruelty, determined 
that lie would not aid in the war. He had been re- 
ceived into membership with the Friends after the 
exemption law was passed. 

There was a heavy growth of forest near his home, 
into which he entered and began secretly to dig for 
himself an under-ground home. The earth he re- 
moved was carefully carried to a pond near by, where 
it was hidden from sight by the friendly waters. The 
entrance to his proposed home he covered with planks, 
and over these he spread earth and leaves, and thus 
nicely arranged a mode of entrance and egress. Here 
he took up his abode and quietly remained through 
the day. At night he came out for exercise and to 
get from a place agreed upon the food supplied by 
his mother. For eight long months this was his 
home. 

The widow had been left with thirteen children, 
the youngest a year and a half old. This eldest son 
was the only one really able to do farm work, yet he 
was obliged to hide away and leave the girls to plough 
and do all the field work. Of the scanty crops which 
they succeeded in raising, the tithing-men took one- 
tenth for the support of the cause which had cost the 
family the life of the father and husband. 

Of these twenty Friends who were liable to con- 
scription, five paid the tax, fourteen were at one time 
hidden in the cave discovered by John Beals, and the 
other one in the cave of his own making ; so that the 
Confederate government got no soldiers from the 
ranks of this little peace-army. Not a Friend was 



308 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

found in Tennessee who sympathized with slavery or 
secession. 

Providence Cave was not the only one in which 
men who would not answer the call to war were 
secreted. About one hundred and fifty miles east 
of Chatham is the beautiful valley of East Tennessee, 
in Blount County. In this valley is the village of 
Friendsville, twenty-one miles southwest of Knox- 
ville, and here is a Friends' meeting of the same 
name. At this place the celebrated philanthropist, 
William Forster of England, died January 27, 1854. 
He had been engaged for some time in the South as 
a minister, visiting the slaveholders and pleading with 
them in the name of his Master for the slaves, as 
well as holding meetings and preaching the gospel of 
peace to white and colored, as opportunity offered. 
In the well-kept graveyard here, surrounded by a 
neat iron fence, erected by his son, William Edward 
Forster, a member of Parliament, who visited the 
spot since the war, is the grave of William Forster. 

At the time of which we write, William J. Hackney 
was one of the leading Friends of Friendsville. He 
was a Friend not only in his church relations, but to 
humanity and to the United States. He did not be- 
lieve in secession ; neither did he believe that men, 
whether Friends or not, should be forced into the 
army to fight against their will and for a cause which 
they disapproved. As he was too old to be a con- 
script, he freely moved about among men, though he 
was fully aware that freedom of speech was not at 
all times as wise as was taking observations without 
, comment. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 309 

Near where he dwelt, and just across the creek from 
the meeting-house, is a large cave, the existence of 
which few then knew. Into this cave William J. 
Hackney cari-ied provisions and bedding, and made 
necessary preparations to secrete men for days or 
months as might become needfid. 

The entrance of the cave was by the side of a road 
not very much traveled, among boulders and sur- 
rounded by a thicket, and it was so small that a passer- 
by would not notice it. A man could barely crawl 
into it, and a tree had been felled or blown down so 
that the branches covered the spot and hid it entirely 
from view. This cave would comfortably accommo- 
date fifty men at one time, and that number were soon 
hidden in it. The echo of their footsteps could be 
heard to its remotest depths, and the smallest sound 
produced a startling effect within the cave. When- 
ever a light was made, the glistening stalactites pro- 
duced a picture of marvelous beauty. 

William Hackney's wife was in full sympathy with 
her husband in his loyalty to the Union and in the 
work which he proposed to do for the relief of those 
who did not wish to enter the army. She assisted 
him by cooking and otherwise jjroviding for the wants 
of those who came to them in need. He did not at 
first intend to extend his care beyond his brethren in 
the church, but others sought his assistance and pressed 
their need upon him, so that he soon found the work 
to require much of his time. He became so interested 
in its prosecution that upon one pretext or another he 
visited the soldiers when camped near, and in some 



310 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

way be would learn who among them were anxious to 
escape from the Southern army. To these he would 
give directions, and soon they were secreted with 
others in " Cudjo's Cave." 

When the provisions grown upon friend Hackney's 
farm were exhausted, the family bought more, and 
actually impoverished themselves by feeding the hun- 
gry, clothing the naked and caring for the stranger, 
very few of whom were able to recompense them in 
any way. William Hackney did not require that a 
man should be of his opinion in all things in order to 
receive any assistance in his power to give. If a man 
was in need of help to get away from the South, and 
was able to satisfy William that he was not in sym- 
pathy with the Confederacy and wished to quit her 
borders, William considered it his duty and privilege 
to do what he could to aid the man on his way. When 
a company had been gathered and there seemed no 
obstruction, on a favorable night he would lead his 
willing prisoners out of their prison, get some of them 
on his own beasts and silently take up the line of 
march westward. He acted as conductor to the next 
station on the Underground Railroad, where he con- 
signed them to the care of some friend, " tried and 
true." Here they rested in the woods, a barn, or an 
outhouse during the day, and at night were conducted 
farther on their way. William Hackney would then 
return to his home, again fill his cave and feed the 
hungry refugees. 

He was under suspicion, and the Confederate offi- 
cers as well as his neighbors believed that he was in 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 311 

some way working against them, but just Low and 
to what extent they were unable to find out ; nor did 
they see the way to complain against him, for he had 
always been a peaceable and industrious farmer. 
Some suspected a secret hiding-place, but could not 
find it, although in their search they sometimes came 
so near the cave that the men inside heard their mut- 
tered oaths as they talked at the very entrance, and 
with feelings of relief listened to the sound of their 
horses' feet as they rode away over the stones. 

On several occasions William Hackney came near 
being discovered during his work, but native shrewd- 
ness and a kind Providence favored him throughout 
the war, so that more than two thousand people were 
received in that cave and helped on their way. Many 
of them entered at once into the Northern army. 
William did not consider this any of his affair. The 
men came to him as strangers, and he took them in 
and fed them as his Master bade him do. 

When the Northern troops entered East Tennessee, 
and the faithfid service rendered by William Hackney 
in various ways was reported to General Burnside, he 
sent for him and wished in some way to recompense 
him for his services, for besides assisting the refugees 
he had given valuable information to the Northern 
officers. But our friend was not working for money, 
and he declined all offers of reward. In his eager- 
ness to do something for him. General Burnside offered 
him a position as one of his staff-officers, and pressed 
him to accept ; but being a Friend, William did not 
aspire to military honors. He had a comfortable 



312 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

home and some land left, and by tilling the soil he 
coidd manage to live and support his family. He 
did, however, spend considerable time in camp at 
Knoxville, Tenn., the army-headquarters, as the guest 
of General Burnside, and while there he furnished Mr. 
J. T. Trowbridge with the material from which he 
wrote the interesting book, " Cudjo's Cave," connect- 
ing in his story the two caves here mentioned, which 
are really one hundred miles apart. 

When the troublesome times were over, our friend 
took up the old-time work of ploughing and sowing 
his fields. He was obliged to live simply, but his 
tastes and habits of life were not such as to demand 
large expenditures. He and his true helpmeet lacked 
no good thing, and have since gone down to their 
graves in a good old age, loved by all who knew them. 

This part of Tennessee was for many months the 
scene of almost continual fighting. The armies drove 
each other back and forth across the country, in which 
had stood the peaceful homes of prosperous farmers. 
The fences were entirely destroyed; every rail was 
burned. There was scarcely a house that was not 
searched by soldiers of one or both armies, and nearly 
everything was carried away or destroyed. Pro- 
visions especially were required, and the soldiers 
seemed not to think of or care for the wants of the 
citizens, many of whom were left destitute of food for 
themselves and helpless little ones. 

It was " legal " to confiscate the property of men 
who had left their homes on account of Union senti- 
ments. Suspected persons were sometimes compelled 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 313 

to leave their homes to save their lives, and occasion 
was thus afforded for the confiscation of property, 
either for the government or for personal advantage. 
One William Morgan, a Friend minister of this region, 
was in danger of his life, and was obliged to make his 
way on the Underground Railroad to the West. His 
property at New Market was immediately confiscated 
and sold at auction for $14,365 in gold. 

The man to whom William Morgan had entrusted 
the keeping of his household goods, and who had 
promised to send them to him as soon as he could, was 
the auctioneer. The daughter Catherine's personal 
effects were included in this sale, and no returns were 
ever made of the property or proceeds to the owners, 
except the Family Bible and the walking-stick of Wil- 
liam Morgan, purchased by kind neighbors and sent 
West. 

One day T. Riley Lee of Friendsville, a nephew of 
William Hackney, was with other men passing the 
house of a Friend, when the woman of the family 
called them. They went in and found her in great 
distress. A squad of cavalry had just been searching 
for her husband, and not finding him, had shot her 
only cow, a fine animal then lying dead in the yard. 
The soldiers had broken up her furniture, clock and 
crockery, destroyed the cooking utensils, opened the 
beds and scattered the straw and feathers all around. 
The poor woman was in great trouble. As they talked 
with her a horseman appeared, evidently looking for 
something. He rode immediately up to T. Riley Lee 
and drawing his revolver told him he was a d — d 



314 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Quaker and they intended to clean them all out. Riley 
told him he had not harmed him or any one else and 
he would go with him to any Confederate neighbor 
and let him decide ; but the soldier said he had no 
time to lose and would finish his work then and there. 
Just then one of Riley's companions called out that 
he had found a riding-glove. This attracted the atten- 
tion of the man, and he at once claimed it. The 
woman then charged him with shooting her cow, and 
Riley thought it time for him to move away, which 
he did. The woman pressed her charge, but the man 
hurriedly rode after his companions. 

There were many scenes like this. Human life and 
the rights of property were very little respected by 
many who went about the country with absolutely 
no law to govern them save that of the might of a 
superior armed force. 

Lost Creek meeting was a few miles from Frlends- 
ville, but had been much reduced by emigration to 
the West, so that only five men subject to military 
requirements could be found there. These paid the 
tax and were exempted. When the soldiers came to 
the neighborhood for men, they were angered and dis- 
appointed. They went to the little church-building 
of the Friends, destroyed the library, broke up the 
seats and the floor and made the house wholly un- 
suitable for use. So few of the members were left 
that they were unable to repair it, and the meeting 
was discontinued until the war was over. 

From the few remaining Friends the soldiers took 
much money and property. They compelled the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 315 

women to cook for tliem. Oftimes from early morn- 
ing until night they had to cook for the hungry sol- 
diers their own poultry, pigs and cattle, which the 
soldiers killed. Thousands were thus fed, and $3000 
in gold, -S15,000 worth of provisions, 63 horses, 17 
cattle, 21 sheep and 33 hogs were taken from this 
little company of defenseless citizens, without recom- 
pense. "While we had any to spare," said one of 
the Friends, " we were willing to share it, for we re- 
membered that it is written, ' if thine enemy hunger, 
feed him,' but it was hard when they tried to take 
everything from us." 

The little church at Friendsville lost by confisca- 
tion $165,000 in gold value ; 76 out of the 96 horses 
they had owned were taken, besides 2853 bushels of 
corn, 1586 of oats, etc., etc. 

After the war, numbers of Friends who had left 
returned to their homes in the South, and beaan the 
work of restoring the fences and buildings and re- 
stocking their plantations. Many who had despised 
and persecuted them learned to love them and joined 
in church-fellowship with them. A good new meet- 
ing-house was built at Lost Creek and the meeting 
has since been maintained. East Tennessee has 
learned more of the principles of peace, and many of 
her citizens have joined this army. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

" Nay, I do not need thy sword, 

Comrade mine," said Ury's lord ; 

" Put it up, I pray thee ; 

Passive to his holy will, 

Trust I in my Master still. 

Even though he slay me." 

Whittier. 

Living near Columbia, Teim., was one Tilghman 
Ross Vestal, who had been educated by Friends and 
had accepted their principles concerning the peace- 
able reign of the Lord Jesus. Southern rulers were 
anxious to swell the number of men who were 
required to " drive the invading Yankees from 
Southern soil " and establish the Confederate States 
as an independent government. 

Tilghman Vestal had no sympathy with this move- 
ment, and was unwilling either to shed blood or to aid 
in having it done. But as he was of legal age he 
must meet the requirements of the law or suffer its 
penalties. He was conscripted and sent first to Gen- 
eral Bragg's army, but as he could not be made to 
fight, he was sent home again. A second time he was 
conscripted and sent to the conscript camp at Knox- 
ville, Tenn. From thence he was ordered to Orange 
Court House, Va., and assigned to the 14th Ten- 
nessee regiment, Company I. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 317 

Among his relatives were prominent Friends in 
North Carolina, who were interested for him and en- 
listed John B. Crenshaw's influence on his behalf ; so 
that every effort was made to obtain his release with- 
out the payment of the 1500 tax, which he was im- 
willing to pay or to have paid for him. A letter was 
written by Nereus Mendenhall to C. S. Venable in 
behalf of Tilghman Vestal, who was the nephew of the 
former, and in response C. S. Venable wrote : 

Headquarters of the Army, Virginia, 
September 24th, 18G3. 

Nereus Mendenhall, New Garden, Guilford 
County, N. C. : 

Your letter of September 15, in behalf of your 
nephew, Tilghman Vestal, a private in the 14th Ten- 
nessee regiment, has been received. The general 
commanding has caused an investigation in his case 
to be made by the proper officer. This officer reports 
that on his refusal to do any duty whatever or to make 
arrangements to pay the fine imjjosed under the law 
for a discharge, compulsory means were used on the 
occasion referred to in your letter, and he was pricked 
with bayonets, but not to an extent to unfit him for 
duty. This proceeding was probably irregular, and as 
such not approved by the commanding general. But 
he knows but one proper mode of proceeding under the 
law, and that is to bring private Vestal before a court- 
martial for conduct prejudicial to good order and 
military discipline, in refusing to do duty as a soldier. 

The law makes but one distinction in the case of 



318 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

the Friends, wliicli allows tliem all to escape military 
service by the payment of the fine imposed. This not 
being comjilied with by Tilghman Vestal, and he being 
sent by the authorities as a soldier to the army, the 
general commanding is compelled to act in this case 
as he would in that of any other delinquent soldier. 
I am, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 
C. S. Venable, Major and Acting Colonel. 

A letter from T. R. Vestal to J. B. Crenshaw, 
dated Orange Court House, 16th of Eleventh month, 
'63, says : " I have been ordered to do duty again, but 
have refused. Charges were then preferred against 
me, and I have been court-martialed. I sujjpose some- 
thing definite will be done now. I have not heard 
what it is to be, neither do I have any idea. When I 
was court-martialed, I had three men by whom my 
character was attested, or at least that part of it that 
the men have seen since I have been in the regiment. 
They also stated that I had been punished, etc. My 
papers from the West came with a letter from Gen- 
eral Maney or his adjutant, stating that I had been 
assigned to a regiment in that brigade, that he had 
become satisfied that I ought to be discharged, and 
had written to the Secretary of War about me, but did 
not receive any answer, and that I had been sent from 
that place to the conscript camp at Knoxville. These 
papers were filed with the charges. 

Affectionately, 

T. R. Vestal. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 319 

At Orange Court House, before the above court- 
martial, he was sentenced to be punished until he 
would bear arms. The officer began promptly to use 
severe means, but Tilghman calmly told him that he 
was a Christian and could not fight. The officer 
knocked him down repeatedly and otherwise abused 
him, but as he utterly failed to induce Vestal to obey 
orders, he gave up and turned him over to his second 
officer, telling him perhaps he could make him fight. 
After unsuccessful attempts to overcome Vestal by 
knocking him down, the second officer pierced him 
with a bayonet, and threatened to run him through if 
he would not take a gun. He ran the murderous steel 
into Vestal's side, and then stopped to ask if he would 
consent to serve as a soldier. Meetins' with a calm 
but positive refusal, he continued to wound him in 
other places. Seventeen times the resolute soldiers 
of the army pierced the unresisting soldier of Jesus 
Christ, and each time they met with a refusal to ac- 
cede to their demands. Some of the wounds were 
deep, but the heroic sufferer was the victor. 

Finding it impossible to make a soldier of him, they 
sent Vestal to Richmond, Va., where he was placed in 
Castle Thunder. Little attention was at first paid 
to his suffering condition, but some of the prisoners, 
having learned of his sad state and the cause of it, 
were touched with sympathy for him, and did what 
their limited means would allow for his relief. They 
sent petitions one after another to the authorities im- 
ploring clemency in his case. But the relief of unfor- 
tunate and sviffering prisoners seemed to be no part 



320 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

of the business of the keepers of Southern military- 
prisons, and they paid no heed to these petitions. In- 
stead, they decided to be rid of Vestal by sending him 
farther south to Salisbury prison in North Carolina, 
where the prospect was that he would be speedily re- 
lieved from his suffering by death. 

Tilghman Vestal, with the marks of eighteen 
wounds upon him, weakened and suffering by a wea- 
risome journey, was introduced into Salisbury prison. 
As he was naturally a tidy person, the filthiness of 
the place was shocking to him. No opportunity 
to preserve cleanliness was allowed to the prisoners, 
and the more filthy and covered with vermin a pris- 
oner became, the sooner could he be taken away to 
help fill the long trenches dug one after another on 
the hillside. 

On one occasion, as Vestal was endeavoring to re- 
move the vermin from his person, which, as we have 
learned, it would be impossible to prevent from crawl- 
ing upon him, the inhuman keeper of the prison dis- 
covered him thus employed, and with fearful oaths 
began to abuse him. Growing angry as he talked, 
the officer beat Vestal over the head until the blood 
ran down his shoulders upon his already wounded and 
sore body. 

After having been confined for six weeks in this 
terrible place, T. R, Vestal was liberated through the 
instrumentality of Friends, whose strenuous efforts 
had hitherto been unsuccessful, and he was placed in 
the Friends' school at New Garden, N. C. 

An account of T. R. Vestal's experiences was given 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 321 

in the " Banner " of Nashville, Tenn., and copied in 
the " Informer " of Elgin, 111., for May, 1876. It 
throws some further light upon his case, and may be 
of interest, coming as it does from a Southern officer, 
who was an acquaintance and an eye-witness of at 
least a part of his experiences. The article is headed 
" Vestal's Grit ; the Tennessee Quaker who refused 
to fight in the late war." 

" The following account of a young Quaker who 
could not be induced to fight in the late war, although 
he was conscripted, is from the pen of a prominent 
citizen of Tennessee. It is a faithful narration of 
one of the most interesting and curious events of the 
war. I have just read in the Nashville ' Banner,' of 
the 16th inst., a fragment of Governor Foote's remi- 
niscences, headed, ' How a Quaker refused to fight.' 
As I am familiar with the facts and circumstances 
alluded to, and as the case greatly interested me at 
the time, I have thought it might be of some interest 
to your readers to go into details more than is done 
in Governor Foote's brief allusion to the case. 

"The young Quaker alluded to is Tilghman R. 
Vestal, who lived near Columbia, Tenn. When Gen- 
eral Bragg's army was at Shelbyville, Tenn., young 
Vestal was conscripted and sent to that place. He 
was assigned to duty in the Fourth Tennessee regi- 
ment, commanded by Colonel Murray of Nashville. 
He reported to the regiment as required to do, but 
utterly refused to perform military duty of any charac- 
ter or description. Neither by threats nor persuasions 
could he be induced to alter his determination. The 



322 SOrTHEliX HKIiOKS. 

oflioers of the logiiuont woro as humano as tliov wore 
true and gallant, and aftoi- evovv etVovt had failed to 
iudueo Vestal to perform the duties of a soldier, they 
gave the matter up in despair and told him to leave 
and go home, whieh he did. But shortly thereafter 
another eonseript otHeer eanie along, and ^'estal was 
ag"ain duly enrolled as a eoiiseri])t, and ordered to 
report at Bragg's headquarters. All alone and on 
foot Vestal went to C^'hattanooga and reported. By 
a most singular eoiueidenee he was ag-ain assigned to 
the Fourth Tennessee regiment. Colonel Murray 
knew from his Shelbyville experienee that he had a 
tough eustomer to deal with, lie eoneluded to try 
the power of moral suasion, so one day he sent for 
Vestal to eome to his ipiarters, and undertook to eon- 
vince him from the iSeriptures that he was wholly 
wrong in his ideas and position. But the young 
Quaker was rather too mueh for the gallant eolonel 
in the Serii>ture argument, and the eolonel sent for 
his ehajdain to talk to him and eonvinee him that he 
was altogether wrong in his refusal to tight or per- 
form military duty. The ehaplain eame and opened 
the argument after this wise : • 1 would n't i^ive a eeut 
for a religion that is opposed to my eountry.' Said 
Vestal : ' 1 would n't give a eent for a eountry that is 
opposed to my religion.' The argument lastetl for 
some time, but left the young Quaker uneonviueed 
and determined to do no military duty of any kind. 

" lie refused to poliee the eamp or to do the least 
tiling that eould be tortured or eoustrned into military 
duty. At last Colonel Murrav, wliollv unable to do 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 323 

anything with Vestal, sent him to brigade headquar- 
ters. Here he was reasoned with, and every effort 
was made to induce him to go and perform the duties 
of a soklier, but he was firm and as inflexible as the 
everlasting hills. He was told that if he persisted in 
his course he would be subjected to severe punish- 
ment, and would finally be shot for disobedience to 
orders. He replied that they had power to kill him, 
but neither the Federal nor the Confederate army 
possessed tlie power to force him to abandon his prin- 
ciples or prove false to his religion. 

" Everything that coidd be construed either directly 
or indirectly into military duty he refused most em- 
phatically to engage in. He was only about eighteen 
years old. I soon became satisfied that he acted from 
principle, and would go to the stake or meet death in 
any shape it could assume, rather than swerve one 
particle from what he conceived to be his duty. It 
was the sublimest exhibition of moral courage I had 
ever witnessed, and it was all the more remarkable 
from being found in a boy of only eighteen, away from 
his family and friends. 

" I asked him one day if he had no sympathy with 
the contest ; if he had no preference as to which side 
should be successful. ' Oh, yes,' he said, ' I would 
prefer to see the South victorious, as I live in the 
South and among Southern people.' 

" I heard a gentleman say to him : ' Vestal, did you 
ever exhibit any emotion in your life ? Did you ever 
cry in your life ? ' ' Oh, yes,' he said, ' I have cried 
in my life.' ' Well,' said the gentlemen, ' I would 



324 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

like to know what were the circumstances that caused 
you to cry.' ' Well, sir,' he said, ' when I left home 
to come here my mother cried when she told me good- 
by, and I cried then.' ' Yes,' said the gentleman, 
' and if your mother were here now and could see how 
you are situated, she would tell you to take your gun 
and go out and do your duty as a soldier.' ' No, sir,' 
he quickly replied, ' the last thing my mother said 
to me was to be true to my religion, and I mean to 
do it.' 

" It was during his stay at Colonel Murray's head- 
quarters that Vestal had his interview with Governor 
Foote. Governor Foote was at that time a member 
of the Confederate Congress, representing the Nash- 
ville district, and was a candidate for reelection. The 
soldiers from Tennessee in the army were allowed 
to vote, and he was out electioneering among the 
soldiers. While at Colonel Murray's headquarters 
some one pointed out Vestal to Mr. Foote, or intro- 
duced Vestal to him as a Quaker who would not fight, 
when the following conversation took place between 
them: 

" Foote : ' What ! young man, won't you fight ? 
You are a stout, good-looking young man. Is it true 
that you refuse to fight ? ' Vestal : ' Yes, sir.' Foote : 
' Why ! you are all wrong about that. Suppose you 
were to marry a beautiful and accomplished young 
lady, and some ruffian were to come into your house 
and grossly insult her. Wouldn't you kill him?' 
Vestal : ' No, sir.' Foote, jumping from his seat in 
a very excited manner : ' Why ! I 'd kill him in a 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 325 

minute.' He then resumed his seat, and after survey- 
ing him a few minutes again commenced the conver- 
sation. Foote: 'Young man, you are all wrong 
about this matter, even from a Scriptural standpoint. 
When Christ was upon the earth he directed his dis- 
ciples to pay tribute to Caesar. The money thus paid 
went into the Roman treasury and was used to carry 
on the wars of the Roman people.' Vestal: 'No, 
sir, you are mistaken about that. The temple of 
Janus was closed at that time, and there were no wars 
going on.' Foote : ' I believe he knows more about 
that than I do. I don't know whether the temple of 
Janus was closed then or not.' 

" Such was substantially the interview between this 
remarkable boy and this remarkable man. Perhaps 
two more opposite characters, in many particulars, 
never came into contact. 

" Vestal was ordered to Knoxville, and from there 
he found his way to the Virginia army, and was as- 
signed to one of the Tennessee regiments. Here he 
was ordered to military duty, but firmly refused as 
he had done before. The brigadier in command, 
knowing his history, or incidents of it, ordered him 
to be bayonetted for disobedience to orders, and the 
bayonet was applied to him repeatedly. He bore it 
with the spirit of a martyr, and the soldiers, seeing 
that he would willingly die in preference to sacrificing 
his principles, refused to punish him further. No 
punishments or threats could shake the settled pur- 
pose of his soul for a moment. He was under arrest 
all the while. Frequently on retreats his guard would 



326 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

lose sight of liim, but in a day or two Vestal would 
march up alone into camp. 

" He was afterwards detained in Castle Thunder 
for awhile, at Richmond, but was finally permitted by 
the Secretary of War to go down to North Carolina to 
school, and was there when the war closed." 

The writer of the above, Brigadier-General Maney, 
of Nashville, Tenn., was doubtless unacquainted with 
the imprisonment of our friend at Salisbury. Through 
all his trying experiences he maintained his allegiance 
to Christ and his principles of peace on earth and 
good-will to men. Soon after the war closed. Vestal 
took up his abode in Fall River, Mass., where he still 
lives in the enjoyment of his family and his religion. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Fierce may be the conflict, 
Strong may be the foe, 
But the King's own army 
None can overthrow. 
Round His standard ranging. 
Victory is secure, 
For His truth imchanging 
Makes the triumph sure. 



Whittier. 



Virginia was first settled by the English, May 13, 
1607. Under the preaching of an English woman, 
Elizabeth Harris, in 1656, the first Friends' meetings 
were established. Friends were no more welcome 
here than among their brother Englishmen in Mas- 
sachusetts. The current extravagant stories concern- 
ing them were believed, and they were evidently 
thought to be a very dangerous class of people. In 
1660, Virginia enacted the following law concerning 
them : " Whereas, there is an unreasonable and tur- 
bulent sort of people commonly called Quakers, who, 
contrary to law, daily gather unto themselves unlaw- 
ful assemblies and congregations of the people. . . . 
It is enacted that no master or commander of a ship 
or other vessel do bring into this colony any person 
or persons called Quakers, under the penalty of one 
hundred pounds sterling, to be levied upon him and 



328 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

his estates by order of the governor and council or 
the commissions in the several comities where such 
ships shall arrive ; that all such Quakers as have been 
questioned, or shall hereafter arrive, shall be appre- 
hended wherever they shall be found, and they be 
imprisoned, without bail or mainprise, till they do ab- 
jure this country, or put in security with all speed to 
depart this colony and not return again. And if any 
should dare to presume to return hither after such 
departure, to be proceeded against as contemners of 
the laws and magistracy, and punished accordingly 
and caused again to depart the comitry, and if they 
should the third time be so audacious and impudent, 
they are to be proceeded against as follows : That no 
person shall entertain any of the Quakers who have 
heretofore been questioned by the governor and coun- 
cil, or which shall hereafter be questioned, nor permit 
in or near his house any assembly of the Quakers, 
under penalty of one hundred pounds sterling ; that 
commissioners and officers are hereby required and 
authorized, as they will answer the contrary at their 
peril, to take notice of this act, to see it fully effected 
and executed, and that no person do presume on 
their peril to dispose of or publish their books, pam- 
phlets, or libels bearing the title of their tenets and 
opinions." 

But neither the laws of Virginia nor the hangings 
in Massachusetts could prevent a Quaker English- 
man from coming to this country when he believed 
it was the will of the Lord tliat he should do so. 
The enemies of the Friends were many, but by 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 329 

patient suffering and perseverance they conquered 
these unrighteous laws, and their principles, having 
become better understood, have in a good degree been 
adopted by many of their opposers. The churches 
are generally accepting, to a greater or less extent, 
the spiritual teachings of this once-despised peoj^le. 
The sect itself is no longer despised by any, but 
is respected and accorded an honorable position 
among her sister churches, and is still endeavoring to 
do her little part in spreading abroad the truth of 
God. The present similarity of Friends to other 
churches is not so much on account of their depar- 
ture from their "ancient principles" as because 
others have embraced these. 

In the early settlement of Virginia, Friends as well 
as others took up large tracts of land, and many of 
them settled near where Richmond, Winchester and 
Norfolk now are. Tradition tells us of one who took 
up 40,000 acres of land, another 4000. We hear of 
one Pleasants, who owned many slaves, and was de- 
termined to have one thousand. At one time he held 
nine hundred and ninety-nine, but he failed to reach 
the full thousand before the Friends of Virginia de- 
cided that it was unrighteous to hold their fellow-men 
in bondage. By this decision he was very much an- 
noyed. A committee went to visit him on account of 
his slave-owning, but he would not leave his field to 
meet them, so they waited patiently until he came 
to dinner. He then had their horses put in the 
stable and invited them to dine with him with true 
Friendly hospitality. But when dinner was over, he 



330 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

wished to hasten back to the field with his sable farm 
hands. The committee finally induced him to tarry 
for a season of waiting before the Lord. For some time 
they sat in silence, and then arose, saying if he would 
have their horses brought they would now proceed 
on their way. They departed without once mention- 
ing the object of their visit ; but he knew for what 
they came and was obliged to think about it. When 
upon his bed that night he said he dreamed that he 
died and was about to pass through the gateway of 
heaven, when a little darkey lad closed the gate, and 
he was not allowed to enter. He said he did not 
intend to be kept out of heaven by the darkeys, so 
the next morning he summoned the blacks and told 
them they were all free from that day. He arranged 
for those who wished to remain with him to work for 
waoes, and said that with about half the number of 
servants his business was more profitable than before. 
By the year 1817, all Friends in Virginia had freed 
their slaves. As in North Carolina, so in Virginia, 
the principles of Friends, for some time before the 
late Civil War, were so at variance with the prevail- 
insf sentiment around them that most of them moved 
West, so that at the time the war began, there were 
in the State only a few small remnants of meetings 
that met to worship God after the manner of Friends. 
One of these small meetings was in the vicinity of 
Winchester, which city has been made famous as the 
centre of important military operations during the 
Revolution as weU as during the Civil War. 

Winchester is seventy-four miles from Washington, 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 331 

D. C. Here General Washington for a long time 
made his headquarters, and here, through Governor 
Dinwiddie's orders, he procured horses for his journey- 
to Ohio, in the French and Indian war. Here s-ov- 
erument stores in large quantities were deposited for 
the then frontier settlements. To Winchester Wash- 
ington then retreated after the disastrous defeat of 
Braddock, in 1745 ; and there in 1758 he built a fort, 
the remains of which are still apparent. The inhabi- 
tants still point to the place where his residence stood, 
and to the well which his soldiers sank through a 
hundred and three feet of solid rock. It is now 
filled with excellent water, and the present inhabi- 
tants draw freely from it. It may have been at Win- 
chester that George Washington said, in relation to 
exempting Friends from the army : "Let them alone, 
for you cannot induce them to fight for or against 
us. They are a harmless, peaceable and industrious 
people, who will produce bread and meat, and if they 
will not sell it to us we can take it if we need it. We 
need bread and meat as much as we need soldiers." 
It was to Winchester that Philadelphia Friends, who 
were suspected of being royalists, were exiled during 
the Revolution, and here some of them died and were 
buried. Congress finally acknowledged its error, but 
never made good the great loss to Friends. It was at 
Winchester that General Morgan, of Revolutionary 
fame, lived during his last days. Although he was 
called the " Thunderbolt of War," he said that men's 
opinions of him were erroneous. He was generally 
spoken of as " the brave Morgan who never knew 



332 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

fear," but when the pride of youth and the so-called 
glory of war had faded from his mind, he said : 
" People think that Daniel Morgan never prayed. 
People say that old Morgan never was afraid. 
People do not know that old Morgan was often 
miserably afraid." He then proceeds to tell of times 
of fear when he retired behind gun carriages and in 
thickets before battle and prayed. If " the brave 
Morgan " was afraid in times of battle, must we not 
believe that it is pride, and a false pride, which 
prompts men often to say that on entering battle 
and engaging in such a terrible conflict they know 
no fear ? Thomas Hinshaw tells us that at Gettys- 
burg he watched the faces of men closely as they 
came out of battle, and on them could be plainly 
seen the marks of fear, and the paleness of every 
face evinced the terrible strain of anxiety through 
which they had passed. It is not dishonorable in a 
soldier to confess : " I was afraid." A certain vet- 
eran major once said, with emphasis : " When a 
soldier tells you that he was never scared in battle, 
you make up your mind that he is taking liberties 
with the truth or else he was never under fire." 

Winchester is said to have been taken and retaken 
by the contending forces, during the Civil War, 
seventy-six times, twelve of which were in one day. 
It is stated by the citizens that all the men in the city 
between the ages of sixteen and sixty joined with 
the Confederate army in what they believed to be the 
needful work of defending their homes. Old men, 
women and children were frequently obliged to take 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 333 

refuge in their homes and cellars from the storm of 
shot and shell, and many of these were the innocent 
victims of the deadly missiles. 

Around this famous little city and within its bor- 
ders were the homes of jjeace-loving- Quakers. They 
were well known as such, and many were the aro-u- 
ments held with them upon the subject of the consis- 
tency of war with Christianity. 

Two weeks before the ordinances of secession were 
passed, Robert Griffith, in conversation with one Hal- 
liday, a Virginia gentleman, who afterwards became 
governor, was told by him : " We will make Virginia 
the Lowell of America, crown cotton king, and re- 
vive the slave-trade." To this our friend replied: 
" If you will use the money you purpose spending in 
this Work in building up our commerce and manu- 
facturing interests it will be creditable to you, but so 
surely as you persist in your evil designs to destroy 
this Union, so surely will it become a desolation and 
a wilderness ; King Cotton will be dethroned, and 
your idol, slavery, will fall. With secession comes 
emancipation." To this Halliday replied : " You 
cannot say these things two weeks hence." 

Just after this Aaron Griffith, Robert's brother, 
wrote a letter to his wife, who was visiting relatives in 
the West. The post-office was taken possession of 
and the letter seized. In it was found the statement : 
" We are getting on very well but for the hangers-on, 
who annoy us very much, and there seems no security 
against them." Some tried to sell this letter back 
to him, saying it would be used against him as 



334 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

expressing treasonable sentiments. He was finally 
arrested on this charge, and gave a lawyer $50 
to secure his release. The lawyer kept the money 
but failed to make good his promise, and Aaron was 
sent to jail. He was finally liberated by the inter- 
ference of a personal friend, an officer in the gov- 
ernment, whom he had in time past befriended. 
While he was in prison his horses, harness and much 
property were taken and confiscated to government 
or personal use. His mill was robbed of over |20,000 
worth of cloth, and the machinery was taken away 
and placed in the mill of a neighbor, who still retains 
it, but has not prospered in its use. 

Friends in this vicinity were generally known as 
Union men, and were the especial objects of attention 
by bands of marauders, who went about seizing what- 
ever they could to further their own interests, or the 
interests of the Confederacy. Aaron Gi'iffith finally 
barred his doors to prevent them from entering his 
house at will. One night as the family was gathered 
in the sitting-room, after a chapter in the Bible had 
been read, and followed by a season of devotion, as 
was their custom, a rap was heard at the door, and the 
plain language of a Friend requesting admission. But 
the jieculiar form of expression was defective, and the 
suspicions of our friends were aroused that the visitors 
were impostors. Aaron Griffith parleyed with them a 
little, and after becoming satisfied that his convictions 
were correct, declined to open the door. They then 
tried to open it themselves, but without avail. They 
did not maintain the patience of Friends, and in the 



S-OUTHERN HEROES. 335 

heat of their anger used many expressions not com- 
monly used by pious people. After a time they began 
to shoot through the doors and windows into the room 
where our good people sat " under the shadow of the 
Almighty." They finally made their departure with 
threats and loud curses that accorded poorly with the 
language with which they had first made their presence 
known. 

On a hill overlooking the broad and fertile valley 
of the Shenandoah is a large old-fashioned meeting- 
house built upon a ten-acre lot which was deeded to 
Friends in 1728, at which time a small log-house was 
built upon it. But in 1750 this gave place to a larger 
and more pretentious building. Since the completion 
of the latter, twice each week with the exception to 
which we shall refer, it has afforded a meeting-place 
for the Friends to worship God. They have been the 
leading people of that neighborhood, but the pressure 
of outside influences and internal disturbances have 
tended to reduce the membership until now only a few 
meet in the old meeting-house. 

During the civil strife the army of each govern- 
ment was anxious to possess the fertile Shenandoah 
valley. From its rich soil came much of the support 
of the Southern army, and the Northern men were 
anxious to deprive them of its supplies. Hence the 
terrible struggle around Winchester as a centre and 
the possession of the Friends' meeting-house by sol- 
diers for some time, so that the Friends had to meet 
for worship in the private houses of some of their 
members. 



336 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Perhaps the last assembly held before the breaking 
of this long chain of meetings was a quarterly meet- 
ing held in the 6th month, 1863, for Friends of Balti- 
more and of the country around Winchester. It was 
a large gathering and the house was filled with people. 
Francis T. King, Thomas R. Mathews and John Scott 
of Baltimore were present. They knew of the close 
proximity of the armies, but on leaving home they did 
not anticipate a conflict between them so soon. Shortly 
after the meeting became settled, and while John 
Scott, the veteran soldier of the cross, was preaching 
with unusual power the Gospel of Peace, the noise of 
battle was heard without, sometimes so loud as to 
almost drown the voice of the preacher. The terrible 
shock caused by the discharge of cannon shook to its 
very foundations the stone structure in which they sat. 
But the gosjiel message flowed on without interruption 
and the congregation remained quiet until the end. 
Francis T. King said it was one of the best and most 
solemn meetings he ever attended, and " the ministry 
of our friend John Scott was in harmony with our 
feelings." 

When the meeting was over our friends were anxious 
to return to Baltimore, but they were on the Southern 
side of the army lines, and between them and " My 
Maryland " was an impassible barrier. After having 
had dinner and his horse well fed, Robert Griffith, a 
Friend of the meeting to which we have referred, took 
the Baltimore Friends in his carriage and started to 
drive beyond the army lines so as to start them on 
their way toward Baltimore. They journeyed for two 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 337 

days before they could find an open way, which was 
at Mt. Union on the Pennsylvania Central Railway, 
where they arrived just as the last train was passing 
to Baltimore before the road was seized. As they 
neared the State-line and Francis T. King saw the 
train approaching and his way clear to his beloved 
home, he clapped his hands and nearly shouted for 

joy- 

The army lines had been extended and our friend 
Griffith was cut off from his home. It was more than 
three months before he could return to his family, 
who, in the meantime, had been told that the Friends 
had been captured and the horses and carriage con- 
fiscated. As all communication was stopped, he found 
a home with Friends near Bellefoute until Winchester 
was retaken by the Pennsylvania Federal forces and 
the way thus made for his return home. He found 
that ,f our good horses he had left had been confiscated 
by the Southerners. At one time an officer was about 
to take his sister's horse, but she refused to let go of 
the bridle-rein. With drawn revolver he commanded 
her to loose it or he would shoot. She replied : " I 
cannot be robbed of many years. Shoot if that is 
the way with you Southern gentlemen, who so boast 
of your chivalry. I do not propose to give uj) my 
horse." The officer rode on, leaving the horse in her 
possession. 

As the war progressed Friends were naturally made 
to feel the displeasure of their neighbors in many 
annoying ways, and most of those subject to military 
requirements made their way to the North or West. 



338 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The home of Jesse Wright was for a long time be- 
tween the picket lines of the oi)posing forces, and his 
house was frequently shot over by both armies. Bul- 
lets sometimes entered the rooms, but none of the 
inmates were struck. It was not unf requent for men 
and officers of one army to call while those of the 
other were in the house. Our friend, who was a peace- 
man and disposed to show hospitality to all, would 
cheerfully greet the last comers and escort them to 
another part of the house, set before them the best he 
had, and entertain them as well as he had entertained 
their enemies. In another part of his spacious farm- 
house there would sometimes be under his care those 
who did not belong to either army and who were not 
disposed to join a military force. Each party, save 
the last arrived, would then remain quiet lest their 
presence should become known and trouble arise. 

The son of our friend was liable to conscription by 
the Southern army, and he was warned a number of 
times that soldiers were to take him. lie evaded them 
for a time, but finally concluded that his home was no 
longer a safe place for him, so taking leave of his 
father, mother and sisters, he started on foot over the 
hills, to pass the pickets if possible, and find a place 
where he might not be molested. As he reached the 
hill-top overlooking the home of his childhood, he 
stopped to take what he supposed was his last look 
upon the dear old place. But he saw more than he 
expected, for the soldiers were in the yard and some 
were entering the house in search of him, so that he 
hastily proceeded on his way. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 339 

Often the family fed soldiers until they did not 
know where bread was to come from for their own 
sustenance. For three weeks a wounded Union sol- 
dier was kept secreted, and nursed and fed. The oft- 
visiting- Confederates were not apprised of his pres- 
ence under the same roof. At one time twenty 
refugees were sheltered and cared for by Jesse Wright 
until they could escape. 

On the occasion of the death of a neighbor there 
was such a scarcity of men who dared to show them- 
selves as the friends of the deceased, that it became 
necessary for Jesse Wright to assist in preparing the 
body for burial. He passed the pickets in safety, and 
after performing the kind office to the comfort of the 
mourning household he mounted his horse to return 
home. But the pickets had been changed and the new 
ones would listen to no explanation, and promptly 
arrested him. He was sent to Winchester jail, where 
for three days he saw no one whom he knew. A 
Southern general whom he had l)efrien(h>d then dis- 
covered him and said : " Why, Mr. Wright, what are 
you doing here ? " " Some of your men have captured 
me, and I know not for what I am detained," was the 
reply. The general said he would look into the mat- 
ter, and in less than twenty miiuites a i)ass and an 
order for his horse were brought him. Upon receiv- 
ing the thanks of our friend the general said : " We 
all know there is no harm in you, Mr. Wright. We 
know what your principles are." 

Colonel Mosby's command had captured a supply 
train near what was called " the yellow house," not 



340 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

far from the Jesse Wright home. They were closely 
pressed by the Federal cavalry, and two young men, 
seeing their danger and knowing that Jesse was a 
friend to everybody, sought shelter under his roof. 
The cavalry men found the horses, but not the men. 
Although they searched about the house they did not 
enter it, and the boys breathed more freely, as from' 
the window they watched their pursuers ride away. 
The house was never searched except when the offi- 
cers came to seek for John Wright, the son of the 
house. 

Joseph N. JoUiffe was another one of the Friends 
in this locality. lie was a staunch Union man and a 
prominent citizen. It was his brother, John Jolliffe, 
to whom we have alluded as counsel for Eliza Garner, 
the fugitive slave-mother who murdered her child in 
Cincinnati rather than go with it back into slavery. 
Joseph had remained in Virginia, but he had no more 
sympathy with slavery than had his brother John. 
Neither did he believe in secession. It is positively 
asserted that his vote was the only one cast and 
counted in Frederick County for Abraham Lincoln. 
This fact was remembered by his neighbors, who en- 
deavored to make use of it when surrounded by South- 
ern soldiers, but Joseph Jolliffe was undaunted and 
outspoken in his allegiance to the United States. 
When the Union general. Banks, retreated from Win- 
chester on account of pressure by Stonewall Jackson, 
our friend Jolliffe thought it most prudent for him 
to leave his home, and for some time he remained 
in Maryland. One day the members of his family 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 341 

were told that the Confederates were comino- killino- 
women and chiklren as they came. The mother con- 
sidered it best to flee ; so the horses were harnessed by 
his little boy, Johnnie, who with his mother and sister 
started to flee away from the approaching- army, with- 
out any definite idea as to where they should go. The 
road was filled with the fleeing Union troops and 
wagon trains, and with wearied, broken-down horses 
doing their best to drag their heavy loads through the 
mud. The tired and frightened men hurried on, often 
leaving a wagon or horse by the wayside. Such con- 
fusion and terror are perhaps never seen elsewhere as 
are shown by a routed and fleeing army. 

One wretched man especially impressed the boy- 
driver. In his left hand he carried a chicken and a 
frying-pan, and was seeking a place to cook the fowl. 
The right hand hung helpless by his side, and through 
the coat-sleeve protruded the bone of his arm, which 
had been broken by a ball. In the poor man's flight, 
the bone had cut through not only the flesh but the 
clothing over it. When our friends reached the house 
of a man some miles away, they were told that they 
had been misinformed, and said that they would be as 
safe at home as anywhere. They dined with him and 
toward evening returned to their home. 

On the nineteenth of Ninth month occurred a 
pitched battle, and for over half an hour the contend- 
ing armies fought around their house, which was used 
as a shelter by soldiers of both sides. The family 
sought safety upstairs and seventeen bullets were after- 
wards found in the rooms below. The chimney was 



342 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

struck by a cannon-ball and came tumbling down 
upon the roof over their heads, but neither Union nor 
Confederate bidlets touched the little band of God's 
trusting children. Many 6f the combatants, however, 
were shot about the place, and John Jolliffe, now liv- 
ing on the old homestead, states that he saw a Union 
lieutenant shot by a Southern soldier, who immedi- 
ately robbed him, took his clothing and left him where 
he fell. The dead officer was afterwards buried by 
the family, who never knew who he was, for there 
was no means of ascertaining. John Jolliffe told the 
writer that this stripping of the dead was a common 
occurrence. Clothing w^as scarce among the Confed- 
erates, and the soldiers could not be well supplied by 
the government, so that many of them were dressed in 
Northern uniform, and this often led to great confu- 
sion, sometimes even to loss of life. 

While the fight was going on around the house, 
Susan Jolliffe, now Hoge, impulsively seized a United 
States flag and running to the attic eagerly displayed 
it from the window. The Union soldiers saw it and 
were so filled with delight that they cheered her 

loudly. 

Once the Confederate general. Early, sent officers 
to arrest our friend Jolliffe. He had been complained 
of as a Union man, and his enemies now sincerely 
hoped to see him punished for his sentiments. Upon 
being presented to the general, Joseph Jolliffe asked 
what was required of him. General Early replied 
that he wished Jolliffe to show him the roads about 
that part of the country. " Now, friend Early, you 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 343 

know the roads around this part of the country as well 
as I do, and you laiow I woidd not show them to you 
anyway," was the prompt reply. He was then asked 
to take the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, and 
on declining- to do this, the general asked him if he 
had taken the oath to the United States. He replied 
that he had promised allegiance, and the general told 
him to now take the oath of allegiance to the Confed- 
erate government. He replied : " When you get it 
established I will, and not before." An officer stand- 
ing by said : " Mr. Jolliffe, you are the first Quaker I 
ever saw who says you instead of thee.'' General 
Early promptly said : " That makes no difference. 
He has the principles." The general sent him home 
with an admonition to pray for the Confederacy. 

At one period General Breckinridge made his head- 
quarters at the house of our friend Jolliffe for some 
weeks, and his staff camped upon the beautiful lawn 
in front ; but when Sheridan began to get the better 
of his forces, Breckinridge took sudden leave, not 
even stopping to thank the members of the household 
for their courtesy and care of him during his unwel- 
come stay among them. 

After the battle of Winchester, October 19, 1864, 
Elizabeth Comstock with five women Friends of that 
neighborhood, proceeded under the escort of Aaron 
Griffith to call on General Sheridan for permission 
to visit the hospitals and minister to the bodily and 
spiritual necessities of the wounded and suffering sol- 
dier-boys. Seeing these women approaching in their 
old-fashioned long bonnets, and having no idea of the 



344 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

object of their mission, Sheridan became troubled, and 
as Aaron Griffith reached him he took him aside and 
asked excitedly: "What do those women want? 
Have they come here to lecture me ? " When he was 
informed of their mission he replied : " Well, I am 
relieved, for their appearance frightened me more than 
all the enemy in front, for I knew what to do with 
them, but this army of Quaker women I did not know 
how to meet." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

By all for -wliicli the martyrs bore their agony and shame ; 
By all the warning words of truth with which the prophets came ; 
By the future which awaits us ; by all the hopes which cast 
Their faint and trembling beams across the blackness of the past ; 
And by the blessed thought of Him who for earth's freedom died, 
O my people ! my brothers I let us choose the righteous side. 

Whittier. 

Virginia Friends liad "become so reduced by emi- 
gration that the yearly meeting was laid down in 
1844. At the close of the war there were only four 
small meetings left, viz., Black Creek, Somerton, 
Cedar Creek and Richmond. These formed what 
was then and is now known as Virginia Half Year's 
Meeting. It belongs to Baltimore Yearly Meeting 
as does Hopewell meeting, near Winchester. Each 
of these meetings had its trying experiences, and the 
few men of legal age belonging to them were claimed 
by the strong hand of military law. 

At Richmond meeting, John B. Crenshaw was the 
minister. He was born May 2, 1820, at the home 
occupied by him during the war. In 1860 he married 
his second wife, Judith Willets, who survives him. 
His father, Nathaniel B. Crenshaw, had been a soldier 
in the war of 1812, but becoming convinced of the 
principles of peace and the sinfulness of slavery, he 



346 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

joined the Society of Friends and became a minister. 
His life was several times threatened on account of 
his pronounced and freely expressed opinions. He 
was unwilling to receive slaves by inheritance, and 
suffered much on that account. It was said that he 
was the means of freeing more than three hundred 
slaves, and he lived to see all the colored people in 
this country free. He died in 1866 at a good old 
age. 

John B. Crenshaw was much interested in church 
matters, and was a strong peace man. Five miles 
north of the city he had a pleasant home, and kept 
open house for all Friends traveling in the minis- 
try or on other church service. Owing to his ac- 
quaintance and influence with men of authority, he 
was often called upon to aid Friends and Dunkards 
who were drafted or conscripted into the Southern 
army. 

His widow has kindly given access to many letters 
and papers which show plainly how these unfortunate 
people depended upon his assistance, and looked to 
him to secure their release from j)rison or from the 
army. In many cases they did not look in vain. It 
is very apparent that they had great love for him and 
confidence in him. She states that he finally gave 
up his time almost exclusively to looking after the 
interests of these people. He labored by day and by 
night, often making long journeys, sometimes on foot, 
to visit the Friends who were sick, in prison, or in the 
army. Looking carefully into the merits of indi- 
vidual cases, and usually being able to present a clear 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 347 

case, the officials came to have great confidence in 
him, and for this reason and because of their reaard 
for him as a Christian minister, they usually granted 
his requests. Besides the service thus rendered, his 
house was frequently for weeks the home of those 
whom he was serving. 

For about two years he edited and published the 
" Southern Friend," which became a necessity, as the 
people were unable to secure the publications of their 
Northern brethren, and they were so often misunder- 
stood and maligned in the public press that some 
means of being correctly represented before the people 
was quite important. 

The committee that came from North Carolina in 
the interest of their members came to John B. Cren- 
shaw's house and worked with his advice and assist- 
ance. Friends of North Cai'olina appreciated his 
services. He was cut off from Baltimore Friends, 
with whom he really belonged, and for the time being 
he was identified with North Carolina Yearly Meet- 
ing, and the Friends learned to esteem him very 
highly " for his works' sake," as well as on account 
of his genial nature. He kept a diary, at least a part 
of the time, during his busy life in these trying times. 
Having liberty to quote therefrom, we make a few 
extracts, which will serve to give the reader some idea 
of his continued activity in the cause of peace and 
good will to men. 

Under date of Fourth month 18th, 1861, he writes: 
"Attending the sittings of the Philadelphia Yearly 
Meetmg. There is great excitement. Mobs going 



348 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

about forcing suspected persons to lioist the United 
States flag. It is indeed a very trying time, both in 
church and state." 

" 19th. Left Philadelphia about eleven p. m. We 
reached Baltimore on the 20th. Found the railroad 
bridge was burning. The cars we came in were 
promptly filled with soldiers, who went back and 
burned the bridges we had just crossed. We were 
left outside the city. Hired a carriage to the Wash- 
ington depot. In Washington we found the Potomac 
boats in the hands of the government. We went to 
Alexandria, Va., by a boat which, on arrival, was 
seized by Governor Letcher of Virginia. Reached 
home safely, for which I trust we are truly thankful." 

" 28th. No heart to write, feeling too dejsressed 
with the condition of my beloved country. O Vir- 
ginia ! That thy counselors may in faith look to the 
only true God for guidance, is the prayer of my 
heart." 

" 5th month 29th. Father Crenshaw came down 
to try to get to Baltimore to the meeting for suffer- 
ings. We felt called to petition the powers that be, 
on behalf of peace." 

" 6th month 2d. Our poor little meeting nearly 
broken up." 

" 7th month 30th. I rode around the neighbor- 
hood to see if I could raise anything for the sick in 
Richmond. All that I saw promised to send some- 
thing." 

"7th month 31st. Visited four hospitals for the 
sick and wounded soldiers. Most of them comfort- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 349 

ably situated, but many of them wounded and suf- 
fering much." 

" 8th month 14th. Again made collections for and 
visited the sick." 

" 10th month 7th. A long and interesting meeting, 
during which a document was issued setting forth 
the condition of Friends in the present distressed con- 
dition of the country." 

" 12th month 11th. Father asked permission of 
the meeting to visit the Federal prisoners in the city ; 
I to accompany him, should we get the permit from 
the proper authorities." 

" 12th month 22d. Father and I had a satisfac- 
tory meeting with the Federal officers, then with some 
of their men, — prisoners in Richmond. On last 
Seventh-day I went to meet an appointment with the 
Massachusetts men. Had a very satisfactory meeting, 
and was urged to come again." 

" 1st month 23d, 1862. Went with father to visit 
Federal prisoners, with some of whom we had a 
meeting. Some seemed serious, but others careless 
and noisy. Distributed Testaments and other books, 
which were gratefully received." 

" 1st month 30th. Again, with father, had some 
very interesting meetings with Federal prisoners. 
Distributed more Testaments. The men seemed 
grateful, and some manifested a very tender spirit." 

"4th month 4th. Went with Isham Cox and 
others to attend meeting for sufferings held at Deep 
River. An exceedingly interesting occasion. The 
situation of young Friends subject to military call 



350 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

claimed most serious attention, anil a memorial was 
prepared and a committee appointed to present it to 
their State Convention, now in session." 

" 4tli month 16th. On reaching Richmond found 
Dr. Nicholson and Joseph Elliott awaiting me, and 
on the 18th father and I went with them to see the 
President. After waiting for hours we were informed 
that we could not see him before nine p. m., at his 
residence, whither we repaired at that hour. Were 
politely received, but he positively refused to accede 
to the petition which we presented, requesting him 
to send a message to Congress recommending that 
Friends be released from military duty on account of 
religious scruples. He said he refused on the ground 
that it would be special legislation and open the door 
against us for further persecution in a future day." 

" 4th month 23d. Several balloons in sight, sup- 
posed to have in them Federals reconnoitering. 
About six A. M. we heard what seemed to be heavy 
firing at or near the head of Mechanicsville turnpike. 
There is a })icket this afternoon at my bridge. Oh, 
that we may be able to maintain our principles as 
followers of the Prince of Peace ! " 

" 4th month 24th. Went to Aunt Crenshaw's. 
They were expecting the Federal army about noon. 
We learn that several were killed in the skirmish 
this mornins:. A laro-e number of Confederate sol- 
diers camped on and around my farm, expecting to 
fight to-morrow." 

" 4th month 25th. Sent my wife and children to 
father's ; so many soldiers coming in and out." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 351 

" 4tli month 26th. Quiet in this neighborhood to- 
day." 

"4th month 28th. Went to meeting. The few 
Friends seemed glad indeed to see me. Hurried 
home on account of the sokliers. They are constantly 
wanting something, milk or something to eat, and I 
supply them freely." 

" 4th month 29th. A large division of the army 
on the road. Gen. D. H. Hill has selected my house 
as his headquarters. The Crenshaw and Johnson 
batteries are camped in the woods back of my barn, 
and from there all across the country the woods are 
full of soldiers." 

" 4th month 30th. Busy all day waiting on the 
soldiers, who are constantly calling for something." 

" 5th month 31st. General Hill moved his head- 
quarters to Vass, and General Gregg took up his at 
the house, having previously been below the hill." 

" 6th month 1st. Went to our little meeting. Saw 
many wounded brought from the battlefields of yes- 
terday and to-day, in which it is supposed that more 
than two thousand Confederate soldiers were killed." 

" 6th month 4th. Continual crowd and care. A 
very stormy night. The poor soldiers must have 
suffered. My porches were full, and some of the 
sick were in the dwelling-house. Three houses in 
the woods full, and many lie in the barn and shelters. 
Many quite sick." 

" 6th month 4th. Many sick soldiers left in my 
house and out-buildings, some with measles and some 
with pneumonia." 



352 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" 6tli month 9tli. Two of the sick dead." 

" 6th month 13th. Pressed my wagon to-day to 
carry off the sick. All gone from the house but one. 
One poor man buried to-day, making three here." 

" 6th month 23d. We hear much cannon firing 
here to-day, some so near we can see the smoke from 
the guns and see the shells burst." 

"6th month 28th. Fighting continues. Many 
lives lost on both sides." 

" 6th month 29th. We hear that the Federals have 
been cut off from York river and driven across the 
Chickahominy . " 

" 7th month 9th. Father and I at meeting at 
Jane Whitlock's house, our meeting-house having 
been taken possession of by the government." (The 
meeting-house was at that time at Nineteenth and Gary 
streets, one square distant from Libby prison.) 

" 8th month 8th. Whiting's division of the Confed- 
erate army encamped on our farm. Left next day, 
having taken some potatoes and fruit and stripped 
plank from many panels of the fence, etc. Upon the 
whole I think we have cause to be thankful that we 
are not more injured. The officers placed a guard 
over the orchard, potatoes and houses." 

" 8th month 27th. John Carter and Nereus Men- 
denhall here, to present a memorial from North 
Carolina Meeting for Sufferings to the Congress of 
the United States. A copy is placed on the desk 
of each member." 

"8 th month 28th. Went with Friends to see if we 
could get Thomas Elliott out of prison, but General 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 353 

Winder had received no reply from Petersburg, where 
he had sent for information. By appointment we met 
Miles, the chairman, and other members of the mili- 
tary committee of the House, to explain, as well as we 
could, our principles on war. They asked us many 
close questions, which I trust we were led to answer 
to their satisfaction, as they expressed themselves so 
at the close, and I feel that we have cause for grati- 
tude for help received on that interesting occasion. 
We hear that the committee of the House has already 
united in recommending that Friends and Dunkards 
be exempted from military duty, etc." 

"8th month 29th. General Winder released 
Thomas Elliott on condition that I would ffive re- 
ceipt for him and have him forthcoming when called 
for. On the 31st he was called for, and I had to give 
bond for |500 for his return whenever called." 

" 10th month 1st. Letters from Dr. Mendenhall, 
asking my attention to the cases of several young 
men." 

"10th month 15th. I failed to find the young 
men, but met at camp here a number of other young 
Friends." 

" 10th month 17th. Went to look up some young 
men. Jonathan Harris here for same purpose." 

"10th month 18th. Went with J. Harris. We 
paid the tax for five Friends and three Dunkards, 
14000. Put in a petition for Jesse Gordon, who 
professes to be a Friend in principle. The Secretary 
of War agreed to pass him as a Friend, much to our 
relief." 



354 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

"10th month 19th. The Friends and Dunkards 
from Camp Lee came to our little meeting to-day." 

" 10th month 20th. Jonathan Harris and I got off 
young Gordon at the war office. Met some of the 
Virginia Dunkards brought here as conscripts, some of 
whom had paid the $500 tax into the State treasury. 
At their request I drew up a petition to the Secretary 
of War, asking that those who had paid the tax might 
be allowed to return home until the legislature meets, 
when they hope to be allowed to draw the money 
from the State treasury to pay the Confederate 
treasury." 

" 10th month 22d. At Camp Lee found that the 
Friends had gone home, except young Gordon, who 
was too sick to go ; also the North Carolina Dunk- 
ards. The Virginia Dunkards are not yet through 
with their cases." 

" 10th month 25th. We attended the meeting for 
sufferings of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. An 
interesting occasion. Committee appointed to con- 
sider the exemption law, and report. Friends seem 
very sweetly united in this time of trial and afflic- 
tion. Friends cannot accept the provisions of the 
law as just, or as what they had a right to expect. 
A number have placed money in my hands for exemp- 
tion." 

" I have been engaged several days assisting our 
friends Isham Cox and Allen U. Tomlinson in trying 
to get off some young Friends from military duty. 
Isham Cox stopped at a camp between Richmond and 
Petersburg to see his son-in-law Woody, whom, with 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 355 

his brother, we succeeding in getting off. Isham Cox 
had very acceptable service in our meeting, and left 
next day for home, taking the Woody boys with 
him." 

" 12th month 10th. Took my wife in the buggy to 
camp near Drury's Bluff, where General Daniel is in 
command, to visit the young Friends. They have been 
kindly treated, and not required to perform military 
duty. Thompson is ex^Decting exemption on account 
of poor health ; Stephen Hobson, hoping for release 
on the ground of being a miller ; and General Daniel 
tells us that an order has been issued for the release 
of J. Harvey and S. Hobson." 

" 1st month 3d, 1863. Went to General Daniel's 
camp. The young Friends have left. Called at 
Drury's Bluff, but found no Friends there." 

" 1st month 16th. Isham Cox here to get Friends 
released from army and prison." 

" 1st month 17th. Engaged all day arranging for 
the release of six young Friends, for whom Isham 
Cox paid 13000." 

" 1st month 18th. Isham Cox gave us what seemed 
food convenient for us at meeting to-day. He takes 
cars to-morrow for camp near Fredericksburg." 

" 2d month 7th. Interceded for M. H. Bradshaw, 
not a Friend. Secretary of War agreed to pass him 
as a Friend. I paid the tax and brought him home 
with me." 

" 2d month 9th. Got Bradshaw a passport home. 
Petitioned Secretary of War in behalf of Calvin Per- 
kins." 



356 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" 2cl month 19tli. General Pickett's division of the 
army quartered here. A large portion in our woods. 
Colonel Brocton and aids stayed with us. All left 
at noon. Have burned a lot of wood and fencing." 

" 3d month 2d. Successful in having the Secretary 
of War pass as a Friend William A. Wells. Paid the 
tax for him and arranged for his discharge." 

" 3d month 5th. Went with Matthew Osborne to 
see about removing the remains of his son Jesse, who 
died at Oakwood in Eighth month last. The super- 
intendent showed us what he said he was sure was 
the grave. Sent the coffin to Raper and Murray's 
to be packed for removal to North Carolina. On 
opening it, there was found only a skeleton, a little 
hair, and some pieces of cloth." 

" 3d month 19th. Letter from Thomas Kennedy's 
wife saying that he was sent to Richmond." 

" 3d month 21st. Went to Richmond to see about 
Thomas Kennedy. Learned that he had been sent 
North under a flag of truce." 

" 3d month 31st. Went to meet Christian Robertson 
and his son-in-law (Dunkards), to help them to get 
the former out of the army." 

" 4th month 1st. Isham Cox here to try to get some 
young men exempted." 

" 4th month 2d. Went with Isham Cox, and we 
succeeded in getting all these cases exempted from 
military duty, for which we are truly thankful." 

" 4th month 6th. I was favored to get the release 
of O. Gordon, and paid the tax for him." 

" 4th month 12th. Nathan Hunt, Jr., at our meet- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 357 

ing to-day. Came home with me. I got a jjassi^ort 
for him to Fredericksburg to-morrow." 

" 4th month 18th. Got a release for William P. 
Osborne. Learned that Christian Robertson's ap- 
plication was refused; but they ofPered him a de- 
tail to hospital work. Procured a furlough for C. 
Robertson (Dunkard) to go home for ten days. He 
has not applied for tranfer to hospital duty." 

" 5th month 1st. C. Robertson has returned, true 
to his promise. Called at the war office, but found 
no decision in his case." 

" 5th month 2d. Took C. R. to get his furlough 
extended eight days. He went to Chimborazo hos- 
pital. His uncle came home with me." 

" 5th month 6th. Coming from meeting with J. 
Harris we learned that the Federals had been in 
strong force around father's, and taken all his horses. 
Got passport for J. Harris to go home." 

"5th month 9th. Got an order to send Joseph 
Fell North ; also a discharge for Eli Bird, who came 
home with me much rejoiced." 

" 5th month 14th. Went with Isham Cox to see 
Assistant Secretary of War on account of several 
persons who desire exemption by paying the tax 
imposed upon non-combatants." 

" 6th month 9th. Took C. Robertson to Richmond 
to the war office to see about his case. Got two 
Friends through, and paid the tax for them." 

"9th month 4th. Went with John Pretlow and 
William Bradshaw to make an effort for Bradshaw's 
release. Hope we have succeeded, though it has to 
pass through a long routine yet." 



358 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" lOtli iiiontli 1st. Isliam Cox and J. Harris came 
in about night from Orange Court House. Found 
the grave of John Hobson. His father much dis- 
tressed." 

" lltli month 2d. Engaged with father preparing 
memorial to present to the legislature, on exempting 
Friends from military duty." 

" 11th month 5th. The memorial was presented to 
the half-year's meeting, which adopted it with great 
unanimity, and directed 300 copies printed for dis- 
tribution among the members of the legislature. 
Friends parted in much love and unity, feeling that 
trials await us." 

" 11th month 14th. Detained until late before 
the military committee of House of Delegates, who 
treated me respectfully, but declined to do anything 
for Friends." 

" 11th month 15th. Went to see Judge Campbell, 
who wished to see me about the Hockett boys. He 
offers to send them North. Wrote to their father 
for advice." 

" 11th month 21st. A defense which I wrote in 
reply to an attack on non-combatants appeared in 
the ' Whig ' to-day." 

" 12th month 7th. The Secretary of War decided 
against T. R. Vestal. I asked for a special interview 
in regard to his case. T. R. Vestal is poorly." 

" 12th month 11th. William Cox here to get me 
to assist him in the case of William Overman." 

" 12th month 12th. Received orders for the release 
of C. Robertson and John Reynolds." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 359 

" 12th month 21st. Went to Camp Lee and paid 
$500 to Captain Maynard as exemption tax for my 
son, Nathaniel B. Crenshaw." 

" 12th mouth 26th. Procured an order to send A. 
G. Fell North, and an order to discharge A. G. Kush 
from the army. I paid tax for him in 6th month 
last, but he did not get his discharge." 

" 12th month 28th. Lazarus Pearson came to see 
about Overman." 

John B. Crenshaw's diary for the year 1861 is 
missing, but the year was spent in a continuation of 
the same arduous work as the extracts oiven indicate. 
A few quotations from the diary of 1865 may here be 
given. 

"1st month 4th. At the enrolling office I was 
handed an exemption as a minister." 

" 2d month 1st. Went with David Moffitt before 
the Secretary of the Navy, and succeeded in securing 
the release of his son from the Confederate States 
navy." 

" 2d month 3d. Went to see about the cases of 
several Friends who were suffering for the non-per- 
formance of military duties." 

" 2d month 14th. Got an early start to see the 
Advocate-General and several other officers. Saw 
W. T. Haley, H. Ford and Milliken. Obtained a re- 
commendation from Hale's officers for his discharo-e. 
Returned to Petersburg very weary, having walked 
nearly twenty miles." 

" 2d month 16th. On my way to Richmond met 



360 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

James Hockett, Nathan Spencer and N. Farlow going 
toward my home. They came by appomtment of 
their monthly meeting to look after Friends in the 
army." 

" 2d month 17th. Waiting on Friends, he found 
Seth Laughlin died on the eighteenth of last month. 
Blair still sick." 

" 2d month 20th. Went to father's. Found them 
more cheerful than expected from all that we had 
heard. The Federals took all of his horses and most 
of his provisions. Father is trying to use some of 
the broken-down horses and mules the Federals left 
on his place." 

On the first of Fourth month John B. Crenshaw 
and his daughter, now the wife of Josiah Leeds of 
Philadelphia, went to his father's, sixteen miles away, 
to attend meeting for worship at Cedar Creek on the 
Sabbath, where occasional appointments were made 
after the meeting ceased to be regularly held. The 
next day, April 2d, Jefferson Davis and his cabinet, 
and many prominent citizens of Richmond, left the 
capital of the fast-waning Confederacy. With the 
few troops remaining in the city, they hurriedly took 
their departure for a more southern point, for safety 
from the approaching Northern troops. While John 
B. Crenshaw had been attending meeting with the 
little company in the country, a Friend minister from 
England was attending the city meeting, and on 
arriving home that evening they found him as a guest. 
The diary continues : 

" J. J. Neave, a minister from England, at my home. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 361 

Early in the morning we heard heavy explosions, the 
blowing up of the magazines, and we learn that the 
Federals are in the city. J. J. Neave and I drove to 
the city and called on our Friends, whom we were 
glad to find composed. On coming out we were 
stopped by colored pickets, but they let us pass home. 
"Warwick's mills and a large space around destroyed 
by the Confederates burning the tobacco-warehouses." 

" 4tli month 5th. Called on a number of Friends, 
among them Judge Campbell, with whom I had a most 
interesting interview. I rejoice that he remained in 
the city, believing that he will be very useful in restor- 
ing order. Went to see some of my neighbors. Ser- 
vants everywhere very unsettled. One of my neigh- 
bors, Colonel J. B. Young, gTossly insulted by the 
colored troops. His silver, etc.", stolen, but was soon 
restored by an officer. Lawless men are taking 
horses, etc." 

" 4th month 8th. J. J. Neave and I were not al- 
lowed to go into the city. A number of the neigh- 
bors called to ask advice. The fright and harassment 
from robbers continues. At the request of the neigh- 
bors I drew up a statement of the manner in which 
the soldiers are robbing and insidting the people, and 
presented it to General Wirtzel, to whom I was intro- 
duced by Judge Campbell. The general promised to 
issue orders to repress the disorders." 

" 4th month 12th. Had to get a pass to go home. 
Colored pickets at our toll-gate. We all renewed our 
allegiance to the United States." 

" 4th month 14th. Colored troops sent off and 



362 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

arrangements made to protect this section with white 
troops." 

" 4th month 18th. Went with numbers to get their 
passes." 

" 4th month 26th. Went with Allen U. Tomlinson 
to affirm his allegiance to the United States. Got a 
pass to go to my home." 

" 6th month 2d. Had a long interview with Judge 
Campbell's wife with reference to his present con- 
dition as a prisoner." 

" 6th month 3d. Writing a memorial to President 
Johnson on behalf of Judge Campbell." 

" 6th month 5th. Father and I had a consulta- 
tion with Judge Campbell's wife. Met F. Ruffin and 
Colonel Ray in reference to memorial certificate, etc. 
Judge Lyons introduced us to Governor Pierpont, 
who received us courteously and gave father Willets 
a permit to visit the penitentiary and jails of the 
State, with request that he would report the result." 

" 6th month 25th. After meeting, read to our 
Friends the memorial in behalf of Judge Campbell. 
I was unanimously requested to sign it in behalf of 
Friends in Virginia." 

" 6th month 29th. Father Crenshaw started this 
morning for Washington with the memorial in behalf 
of Judge Campbell." 

Here ends the diary, but we know that John B. 
Crenshaw continued in good works until the tenth of 
Sixth month, 1869, when he passed from works to re- 
wards. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 363 

We find upon the minute-book of Hopewell monthly 
meeting-, and upon that of the meeting for sufferings 
for Baltimore Yearly Meeting the following account 
(the estimated loss as here given is said to be far 
below the actual amount) : 

" It is deemed proper that we should place upon 
our records a brief statement of some of the trials and 
losses sustained by our members, mostly living in 
Virginia, on account of the fearful scourge of the 
Civil War, which, during four years of deadly strife 
between opposing armies, so devasted our beloved 
country; and though we can give but an imperfect 
idea of the sore trials experienced, the constant appre- 
hensions both to persons and estate to which we were 
exposed, yet this may serve to show some of the 
horrors of civil war, in the disregard of the peace, 
rights and liberty of the individual citizens, conse- 
quent upon such an unhappy state of affairs. 

" The war began in 1861, and from that time until 
its suppression in 1865 we were, with brief intervals, 
not clear of one or the other of the armies in our 
midst. Property was constantly in jeopardy, either 
from impressment or from depredations of independ- 
ent bands of soldiers. 

" The first summer of the war, a few of ovu- young 
men were forced out in the militia and placed to work 
on fortifications, but through the favor of a kind 
Providence they were soon enabled to obtain their en- 
largement and escape as refugees into the loyal States. 

" Some of our members not subject to conscription 
were arrested by military order on account of their 



364 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

known Union sentiments, and held under guard in a 
loathsome guard-house or in the camp, without a 
charge against them, until they were released through 
the interposition of personal friends. All were sub- 
ject to taunts, threats and reproaches, by a vindictive 
and unscrupulous soldiery, countenanced and encour- 
aged by sympathizing citizens, purely on account of 
their conscientious sentiments in opposing the rebel- 
lion and the mad ambition of its leaders. 

" Searching houses under feigned pretenses was 
often repeated, merely, as it seemed, to annoy, or un- 
der the exercise of arbitrary power to offer indignity 
and insult to the unresisting inmates. 

" Freedom of speech and transit from place to place 
were greatly abridged, and as a consequence our regu- 
lar religious meetings were interfered with, and social 
intercourse nearly destroyed. In many cases the last 
horse was taken, thus depriving the family of its ac- 
customed use on the farm, or even in going to mill, or 
procuring wood for fuel. 

" Stock, grain, and in fact provisions of all kinds 
were regarded by the insurgents as their projjerty and 
were openly appropriated by them to their own use at 
their pleasure. Civil law was entirely inoj^erative 
and disregarded, and a military despotism reigned 
supreme. 

" Schools along the pathway of the army were gen- 
erally suspended, and school and meeting-houses, if 
not destroyed, were appropriated to hospital or other 
military purposes. The condition of morals and re- 
ligion very much declined, and a general demoraliza- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 365 

tion in every grade of society was abundantly appar- 
ent. In consequence of the loss and destruction of 
their property and the serious invalidation of their 
currency, many were reduced to near the verge of 
bankruptcy, the savings of years of toil being swept 
away in the general wreck. But it is difficult, after 
the lapse of time and the trying things through which 
we had to pass during the war, to sum up all the 
losses, evils and troubles connected with the dark cat- 
alogue of the times. We might add incidents of 
attempts to break into houses, shooting at the inmates, 
throwing stones through the windows, and other out- 
rages ; but we forbear. It is now under feelings of 
unfeisfued thankfulness that we hail the return of 
peace and the establishment of law and order through 
the land, bringing with it the abolition of slavery and 
the ultimate enfranchisement of the negro race, a con- 
summation for which our society has long faithfully 
labored. 

" In conclusion, we desire gratefully to acknowledge 
and commemorate the preserving care and over-ruling 
providence of our Father in Heaven for shielding us 
whilst His fearful judgments were in the land, staying 
our minds in confidence and trust in his mercy, and 
giving us to experience that ' His compassions fail 
not ' in the most trying emergencies. 

" In the following summary are many articles of 
convenience or comfort which were taken or destroyed, 
of which it would not be easy to estimate the actual 
loss. We therefore give an approximate aggregate 
of each as severally repeated : 



366 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" BALTIMORE QUARTER, HOPEWELL (VA.) MONTHLY MEETING. 

John Griffith, horses, hay and grain 
Jesse Wright, timber, stock and grain . . 
A. H. Griffith, horses, hay and harness 

" " wood and fencing . . , 

" " cotton warjjs burned . , 

" " cloth impressed and stolen 

James Jauney, stock, grain and hay . , 
James Griffith, stock and goods . . 
Joseph M. Jolliffe, stock and goods. 
William Barrett (no account). 
Kachel N. Hoge (no account). 



$950.00 

900.00 

1,200.00 

1,000.00 

1,000.00 

20,000.00 

835.00 

1,100.00 

11,100.00 



$38,085.00 

" In Dunning's Creek Quarterly Meeting, Henry- 
Hare, William P. Hare, Joseph J. Hare and Benjamin 
F. Hare were taken to Confederate camp at Suffolk 
on the 24th of Second month, 1862, and were there 
placed under guard for two weeks. They were then 
called upon to work in the commissary house and to 
make some bunks for the sick, which they did. They 
were permitted to have provisions sent from home, 
and when Joseph J. and William P. Hare were taken 
sick they were permitted to go home. About this 
time the State of Virginia passed a law enjoining a 
tax of $500 and two per cent on the property of all 
non-combatants who were of military age. Under 
this law our Friends were released, jmying as follows : 
J. Hare, $522.25; WiUiam Hare, $562.21; B. F. 
Hare, $510. Henry Hare was at home on the reserve 
list. Congress passed a law requiring only $500, 
which he paid. 

" There was taken from our friend William Hare 
$515 in United States money and about $800 worth 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 367 

of property. He was cruelly treated, being sliot in 
the head and left for dead, but he has measurably 
recovered. 

" On the twenty-ninth of Third month John Britton ; 
James, Edward, Tilman and William Harris, and 
Oswin White were taken to the entrenched camp be- 
low Norfolk. After twelve days' steadily refusing to 
perform military service they were put in a dungeon 
where they remained nine days. They were released 
on payment of the State tax of 1500 and two per cent 
on the value of their property. Edward Harris was 
taken sick in the dungeon and died seven days after 
being released, we believe, from the effects of his im- 
prisonment. Joel Cook, Joseph Johnston, James J. 
Harris, B. F. Wilson, Walter Pleasants, E. S. Ricks, 
Walter Ricks, and Nathaniel B. Crenshaw were re- 
leased on payment of the tax. 

" John Pretlow lost about |400 in property, and 
Joel Cook about 1175. In addition to what we have 
mentioned, we know that others of our members sus- 
tained considerable losses, of which no report can be 
made ; but we can all unite in saying that the preser- 
vations and deliverances experienced at the hands of 
our merciful God were so great and manifest as to call 
forth only adoration, love and praise, and to cause us 
to testify as we desire in humility to do, that God is 
faithful in all His promises, ' a very present help in 
every time of need.' 

" Signed on behalf of the committee, 

John B. Crenshaw." 



368 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The shooting of William Hare was one of the most 
unprovoked cases of cruelty that could be imagined. 
An eye-witness states that he had been paid a $500 
greenback shortly after the surrender. Soon after- 
ward two men came to the house and called to him. 
They wore military clothing and had guns. He was 
required to give them his money, which he did with- 
out a word of protest and turned to walk away. He 
had gone but a few yards when one of the men took 
deliberate aim and shot him in the back of the head. 
He fell as though dead, and they went their way. 
Albert Peele, who saw the act, called for William 
Hare's wife and they took him into the house. After 
much careful nursing he was restored, and he still 
lives, occasionally meeting those men on the streets 
of a neighboring town ; but he declines to tell who 
they are, and says he tries to forgive them. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

We fast and plead, we weep and pray, 
From morning until even ; 
We feel to find the holy way, 
We knock at the gate of Heaven ! 
And when in silent awe we wait, 
And word and sign forbear, 
The hinges of the golden gate 
Move, soundless, to our prayer ! 
Who hears the eternal harmonies 
Can heed no outward word ; 
Blind to all else is he who sees 
The vision of the Lord ! 



Whittier. 



In Wayne County, N. C, of which Goklsboro is the 
county seat, there lived about sixty families of Friends. 
The Neuse river divided them about equally. On the 
north side was Nahunta meeting ; on the southern side, 
Neuse meeting. These two montlily meetings formed 
Contentnea Quarterly Meeting. The membership 
was made up largely of those who had good cotton 
plantations and were substantial citizens, but were 
much ostracized by their slaveholding neighbors, and 
were thoroughly disliked by them, though they com- 
manded the respect of the slaveholders because of 
moral worth and financial prosperity. 

In the early part of the war they were generally 
suspected of holding Union sentiments. For a long 



370 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

time there had been little opportunity of manifesting 
their opinions, except by personal interchange of 
thought by those who could trust each other. The 
elective franchise in every place was very much re- 
stricted. In many ways the Friends were made to 
feel the displeasure of their slaveholding neighbors, 
and every effort was made to induce them to assist in 
the support of the Confederacy. Our Friends kept 
to their own counsel and to their own work. They 
had braved the displeasure and suffered the suspicions 
of neighbors too long to turn from their principles 
now ; so instead of willingly aiding in the support of 
a cause with which they had no sympathy, they hesi- 
tated not to do what seemed to them right to aid any 
who might be suffering on account of the war. 

On one occasion as a train loaded with Union sol- 
diers was passing slowly through the city and suburbs 
of Goldsboro, on the way to one of those terrible 
Southern prison pens, forty men jumped from the 
cars. Friends were probably known by some of them, 
and the soldiers were soon secreted about their differ- 
ent homes. Food was not abundant with all, but they 
assisted one another and kept them for weeks, making 
way as fast as was prudent for their passage to Yan- 
kee land by way of the Underground Railroad. 

The secessionists managed to secure quite a number 
of men who did not believe in fighting, and of these 
they tried to make soldiers. Stephen B. Hollowell, 
Thomas S. Hollowell, Nathan B. Cox, William T. 
Cox, William T. Genett and Nathan Genett paid the 
tax. Robert Edgerton was taken to Newbern, where 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 371 

he was threatened and abused to no purpose. They 
told him that he would be put in front of the next 
battle, but when there was prospect of a battle he was 
left to be taken prisoner, while they hurriedly re- 
treated. For months his family did not know whether 
he was dead or alive, until he unexpectedly appeared 
at home, having been exchanged as a prisoner of war. 
Calvin G. Perkins went from his home in Golds- 
boro on a business trip to Newbern, about the time 
General Butler was besieging that city. He was 
known as a Quaker, and that of itself was ground for 
suspicion that he was a Union sympathizer. He was 
very reticent about expressing his opinions, as became 
any one who could not " hurrah for the Confederacy." 
Some pretended to believe that Calvin had gone to 
give information to General Butler, and on his return 
home he was arrested. His property, amounting to 
several thousands of dollars, was confiscated, and he 
was sent to Salisbury prison. Here he was visited by 
his brother, Needham Perkins, who writes the follow- 
ing letter to a friend : 

" PiKEViLLE, N. C, 11th month, 1863. 

" I suppose thou hast heard the cause of Thomas 
Kennedy's imprisonment. I saw his wife yesterday, 
and she says she does not look for his release before 
the end of the war, if he should live that long. I 
accompanied her to Salisbury to see Thomas, about 
three weeks ago. The old man seems cheerful as 
though he were at home. He has the privilege of 
going anywhere at will within the enclosure. 



372 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" Brother Calvin is still there. He was brought to 
the gate of the garrison, and I was allowed to speak 
about ten words to him. We were then separated. 
I have been there three times during his nine months' 
imprisonment, and each time my interview has been 
equally as short as the last. Calvin had the promise 
of being exchanged several months ago, but they refuse 
to carry out this promise. In the Sixth month last I 
sued out a writ of habeas corpus in his favor. They 
confessed on trial that they had no charge against 
him, yet the judge put off the trial for about ten days, 
pretending that they might find something against 
him. During this time the President declared mar- 
tial law, and then the judge said that put a stop to it. 

" Some months ago the President was petitioned 
for his release. There was nothing found against 
him then. The Secretary of War ordered his release 
more than two months ago, but the commander of the 
prison required a bond of five thousand dollars for 
his good behavior, and that he should take the oath 
of allegiance to the Southern Confederacy before he 
released him. Calvin says he will stay there until 
the end of the war before he will do either. 

" When I was there, more than one hundred and 
forty Southern men were in prison at Salisbury, and 
only two Federalists. N. T. Perkins." 

For more than two years Calvin Perkins was kept 
in this terrible prison with no charge against him, 
according to their own testimony. Finally he was 
sent North as an exchanged prisoner. None of his 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 373 

estate was allowed him, but lie was assisted to busi- 
ness by Friends, and all things needful were provided. 
When the war closed he returned to Goldsboro, N. C, 
where he still lives, and is a respected and prominent 
citizen. 

Silas and Levi Hollo well, Thomas Cox, Samuel 
Perkins, and James and David Grantham were sent 
to camp at Raleigh. Although they were abused and 
punished severely, they were loyal to their principles 
and were finally liberated. 

William Overman, a member from Neuse meeting, 
was also severely tried, and made to walk around the 
camp followed by a soldier with gun and bayonet. 
The soldier was frequently relieved, but he was re- 
quired to tramp, tramp, tramp. If he stopped from 
weariness, the bayonet was thrust into him, and sev- 
eral times he was cruelly wounded. Although it was 
severe winter weather, he was not allowed to go to 
the fire. His only sustenance was bread and water. 
He suffered much, but kept the faith. William Cox, 
an aged minister to whom we have before referred, 
learned of his condition and took him some provi- 
sions. He sought an interview with the officer in 
charge, and remonstrated with him for treating an 
innocent man so. He said : " Unless you relieve him 
he will die." The answer was : " He ought to die ; 
any one who will not fight for his country ought to 
die." " But after death is the judgment," said the 
preacher ; " we all have to die, and will be rewarded 
according to our deeds." The officer seemed to be 
impressed by the visit and the words of the preacher, 



374 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

and William Overman was then allowed to go to the 
fire and receive the provisions brought to him. The 
authorities at Richmond were visited by Friends on 
his account, and his liberty was secured. 

Jonathan Pearson, not then a member with Friends, 
but sharing in the testimony they held against slav- 
ery, inherited a family of negroes, whom in 1854 he 
proposed to set free and send to Ohio. But they 
were so well satisfied where they were that they chose 
to remain with him, and refused to go. Jonathan's 
brother Lazarus told him that those slaves would yet 
bring trouble into the family, and he ought not to 
hold them ; but Jonathan could hardly see any better 
way to do. He was perliaps more pronounced against 
secession than against slavery, and shared very fully 
the feelings and anxiety of his brother and of the 
Friends, concerning the course the South had taken. 
He was not, however, molested by the authorities 
until the second conscription act, which called for all 
able-bodied men under forty years of age who had 
not already been taken. Not willing to be captured, 
Jonathan went to the Friends' neighborhood called 
Rich Square, in Northampton County. Learning 
during the summer that his twin children had the 
typhoid fever, he could not be satisfied to remain 
away longer. Fully conscious of his danger, he 
sought their bedside, with great care that none of the 
neighbors should see him. He watched with his 
little ones while their life lasted, doing what he could 
for them, but did not dare to expose himself by 
attendino- their funeral. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 375 

He continued in liiding until late in November, 
but was then betrayed by one of the colored men who 
had some time before refused to leave the family. 
The neighbors suspected that Jonathan was around 
the place, and tried to induce the servant to disclose 
the hiding-place of his master, promising great re- 
wards if he did so, and threatening severe punish- 
ment if he did not do as they wished. The negro, in 
whom Jonathan Pearson had had implicit confidence, 
disclosed his hiding-place, and our friend was found 
and sent immediately to Raleigh, N. C. ; thence to the 
army on the Rappahannock river in Virginia. 

His brother Lazarus soon followed, resolved to 
secure his release if possible, fie took for him two 
suits of homespun clothing, and a new pair of shoes. 
In due time he found him in camp on the Rappahan- 
nock. Piclvcts of the Southern army were sometimes 
willing to allow persons to pass them going North, 
and while in camp Lazarus arranged for Jonathan to 
pass the lines. 

On the bitter cold night that ushered in the year 
18G4, he passed the Confederate pickets and started 
across the river, which he supposed to be sufficiently 
shallow for wading. But the current was so strong- 
he was borne down to deeper water. He had on the 
new shoes and two suits of clothes. He was an ex- 
pert swimmer, but it was with great difficulty that he 
reached the opposite bank. Having escaped drown- 
ing, he was now in danger of freezing, and found it 
necessary to " run for his life." He did run, toward 
the Northern lines, where he was readily received and 



376 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

sent to camp, and soon after to prison at Washington, 
D. C. 

For more than three months he was unable to 
communicate witli his friends. Finally his uncle in 
Iowa, William Pearson, a minister well known 
among Friends, secured his liberty through the Con- 
gressman from that district. About a year after he 
left home his family joined him, having escaped from 
the South by way of the Underground Railroad. 
After the surrender they all returned to their Caro- 
lina plantation, and did effective service in the meeting 
which they joined. 

W. T, Hales, one of Lazarus Pearson's neighbors, 
a poor man who was the only support of his widowed 
mother and sister, was convinced of the unlawfulness 
of war for the Christian, and was received into mem- 
bership with Friends after the passage of the exemp- 
tion act. He was conscripted about a year later and 
taken to the 24th North Carolina regiment, near 
Petersburg, Va., where he underwent great hardshijis. 
His friends were willing to pay the tax required, and 
he did not object, but there seemed no way of induc- 
ing the officials to accept the money and release him. 
He was court-martialed, with sentence to be pnt at 
hard labor and to forfeit three months' pay, which 
latter part did not matter much to him, as he would 
receive no pay. The order that he should do hard 
work they tried to enforce by attempting to make him 
shovel dirt. This he would not do. He told them 
that his conscience would not allow it. Times were 
appointed to hang and shoot him, but still he would 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 377 

not bear arms. One day an officer came and said : 
" The matter is now settled. You are ordered to be 
shot immediately, and allowed only time to write to 
your mother." Our new member kept to his faith 
and the officers failed to carry out the order. 

From a package of his letters written while in 
camp, we select the following one to John B. Cren- 
shaw: 

5th Alabama Bat., 3d Corps, 
Near Petersburg, Va., 12/14, 1864. 

" Most Highly Esteemed Friend, 

" John B. Crenshaw : I received thy kind letter 
a few days ago, and was very much pleased to know 
you were doing all you could for me ; but am sorry to 
inform you that the adjutant has just told me that I 
am to be bucked day and night, continually, from 
now until the end of the war, unless I perform the 
duty put upon me by the court ; and to-morrow he 
will commence feeding me on bread and water alone 
for fourteen days at a time. 

" It seems that the bucking is very severe, but I 
trust I may be enabled to bear it witli patience. He 
said that such were General Hill's orders, and it looks 
at present as though there is no chance for me except 
to suffer until death, which I do not mind much, 
trusting that I may be counted worthy to suffer death 
for Christ's sake. 

" This leaves me with a very bad cold, and I have 
been afflicted with fever for several days. 

" I would be well pleased to see some Friend, but 
do hate to be so much trouble. I hope thee will 



378 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

inform me soon what Congress decided upon. If we 
never meet again on earth, may we find peace in 
heaven. I remain as ever, 

W. T. Hales." 

The Confederate Congress had been petitioned in 
vain for the discharge of this peace man. The f ol- , 
lowing is from a letter written by him to John Hol- 
lowell, a Friend who lived in Wayne Connty, N. C, 
who was interested for him. The letter was written 
1st month 8th, 1865 : 

"The general has my feet tied together and my 
hands together from daylight to dark, which he says 
will be continued till the end of the war."" 

He writes to J. B. Crenshaw, 3d month 4th, 1865 : 
" I 've been iipon bread and water ever since the fif- 
teenth of Second month last. They are keeping me on 
it all the time now. Tying is continued yet. I have 
been somewhat sick with cold." Third month 20th, 
he writes : " Be thou assured I am most carefully 
awaiting for patience to have its full course in all 
my trials. Having full confidence, I can boldly say, 
the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what men 
shall do unto me. I shall most assuredly continue in 
the faith of our profession, undergoing anything, even 
to death. I have several times witnessed present help 
from the Lord. I remain in Christian love thy friend 

and brother, As ever, 

W. T. Hales." 

Our friend was indeed a source of trouble to the 
Southern officers, and how to make a fighting man of 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 379 

him tliey did not know. Becoming discouraged, they 
were disposed to get rid of him in some way, so night 
after night they forced him as near the Union pickets 
as they dared, and then bucked him down. They 
sometimes fastened him to a tree, and left him there 
for the night, hoping that he might be shot. But no 
bullet reached him ; no device for taking his life was 
successful; no punishment was sufficient to conquer 
our hero. He would cheerfully suffer and die, but 
deny his Lord, never ! 

At the fall of Kichmond the fleeing Confederates 
took him with them on their hurried retreat south- 
ward. Their flight was in the direction of his home, 
and when they came in sight of the dwelling-place of 
his mother and sister, a little north of Goldsboro, he 
managed in some way to escape and go to them. Re- 
joicing in the goodness of the Lord, with grateful 
heart he took up the old routine of farm-life. Think- 
ing that he did no more than his reasonable duty, our 
hero seldom has anything to say of the sufferings he 
underwent for the principles of peace. 

North of Goldsboro, in Northampton and Per- 
quimans counties, there were other settlements of 
Friends. They were of the same faith and heroic 
courage as those in other parts. The Underground 
Railroad passed this way, and at the home of Henry 
Copeland, Rich Square meeting, in Northampton 
County, more than three hundred travelers were 
cared for while making their way amid the perils of a 
closely guarded country, to the land where they could 
be free. 



380 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

If Henry took them in, it was very uncertain when 
they could get out, for dangers abounded and he must 
know that " the track was clear " before he allowed 
them to depart, if he could prevent them from start- 
ing. Sometimes he kept them for weeks, and even 
months. Only one man (not a Friend) of all those 
who stopped with him failed to escape, and that one 
positively would not heed the earnest pleading of 
Henry Copeland and Aunt Dolly, who knew the dan- 
ger of his leaving his hiding-place. He foolishly 
turned a deaf ear to their pleadings and went to his 
death. 

Other dwellings in the vicinity were open to this 
class of travelers, so if three hundred were enter- 
tained at Henry Copeland's, there must have been 
many others who, in this manner, found deliverance 
from tho rule of the secessionists. 

The neiglibors suspected Henry Copeland and wife 
of holding Union principles and harboring deserters, 
as they called them. On one occasion a company of 
men was seen coming toward the house, and by their 
appearance Aunt Dolly suspected that they meant 
mischief. In the chamber of her house were men 
whom she knew they would send into the army or kill 
if they should be seen. 

The L part of the house was not as high as the 
main building, and in the chamber of the main part 
were seven men waiting for a way to open for them to 
escape Southern military service. A hole had been 
cut through the wall of this room, near the floor, into 
the dark loft of the L part, and guests were instructed 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 381 

when taken to this chamber that in case of alarm they 
were to enter this dark place and pull the box of bed- 
ding against the opening to cover it from the view of 
those who might search the house. Stepping under 
the window of the room where the men were, Aunt 
Dolly called loudly : '^ Who are all those men coming 
up the road?" They had seen her and it would be 
imprudent to go in and give warning, yet they should 
be warned. Her friends readily understood her mean- 
ing, and hastily retreated to their hiding-place, the 
last one pulling the box close to the wall. All ap- 
pearances of occupants were removed from the room. 

The soldiers rode up to the gate and entered into 
conversation about the object of their visit. Aunt 
Dolly was very free with them, and seemed much sur- 
prised when they hinted that it was suspected there 
were deserters in the house. She told them they 
might search for themselves. They answered that 
that was just what they came for, and proceeded to 
dismount and enter the house. 

Aunt Dolly's freedom and apparent willingness had 
partly disarmed them of their suspicion, but they went 
through the house and into the chamber where the 
box of bedding stood against the wall. The quiet 
seven could hear them talking, some of them declar- 
ing that they knew Aunt Dolly was all right, and they 
always said Henry Copeland was no enemy of his 
country, etc., etc. The secreted men were not in- 
clined to dispute any of their statements, and were 
left with their friends until the road was clear, and 
they could make their way to a place where they could 



382 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

earn their bread for themselves by some honest em- 
ployment, instead of accepting it as the bounty of 
others. 

Aunt Dolly was one of those good, motherly, Chris- 
tian women we love to speak of as a "mother in 
Israel." She took into account the practical necessi- 
ties of a case, and was ready to help any neighbor in 
time of trouble. She was sent for from far and near 
in cases of sickness, and often not only cared for the 
invalid, but fed the hungry household. Her husband 
was many times threatened with hanging, and doubt- 
less would have been hung but for the fact that so 
many depended upon him and his wife for aid in sick- 
ness and trouble. No doctors dared ride in that 
vicinity after dark, but Aunt Dolly feared nothing, 
and many a dark night on her white mule she went to 
or from the home of some suffering one. 

One evening as she passed Rich Square after dark, 
a group of soldiers observed her as they stood talking 
by the roadside. As she stopped to speak to some 
one on the other side of the way, she heard one of the 
soldiers say : " There 's Aunt Dolly. Let 's hang her. 
They are all Union down that road." Another an- 
swered : " You dry up, talking about hanging folks 
who fed and nursed your wife while you were gone 
last winter." Aunt Dolly proceeded on her way un- 
molested, nor was she ever molested. 

AV. C. Oatland was taken to Eich Square, and an 
attempt was made to hang him for saying that the 
South was in rebellion against the government. The 
word " rebellion " was, and still is, an obnoxious term 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 383 

in the South, the Southerners claiming that they had 
a right to secede, and that it was not rebellion. 

One elderly Friend, Thomas B. Elliott, was charged 
with assisting some conscrijits to cross the Chowan 
river. He was arrested on suspicion, his horses and 
property were confiscated, and he was sent to prison 
at Richmond, Va. There he was kept several months, 
but he was finally released as a result of the efforts 
of John B. Crenshaw in his behalf. 

Jonathan E. Cox once went to the marshal's office 
at Weldon, N, C, for a pass across the Roanoke 
river. He was accused of being a Quaker, and a rope 
was immediately called for with which to hang him, 
because he was opposed to the war. He told them he 
was opposed to that war and all others. Much excite- 
ment was manifested, and a large crowd soon gath- 
ered. In the crowd was a Captain Barnes, who recog- 
nized him, and by threats and commands he succeeded 
in rescuing Uncle Jonathan. 

Another Friend of the same meeting went to Nor- 
folk in the spring of 1864, to take his wife's sister to 
start for Indiana to meet her husband. On his return 
he was captured by General Matthew Ransom's men. 
They took his horses, wagon and goods, and put him 
in the guard-house at Weldon, N. C. J. E. Cox went 
to see the general about securing his liberty. The 
general treated Jonathan with great respect, and said 
that he wanted no Quakers in his army ; he knew they 
would not fight. The Friend was released and his 
property was restored. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Bearer of Freedom's lioly light, 
Breaker of slavery's chain and rod, 
The foe of all which pains the sight, 
Or wounds the generous ear of God ! 

Whittier. 

Thomas Kennedy was an aged minister who 
lived on the south side of the Neiise river, near 
Goldsboro. For sixty years he had lived and served 
his generation faithfully. His loyalty to the prin- 
ciples of his church had been tested in many ways, 
and he had ever been found faithful. He was a man 
of sterling character, and exerted an influence in his 
community outside of his own church ; and while not 
disposed to be meddlesome, he hesitated not, if oc- 
casion required, to express his opinions on the ques- 
tions of the day. He was an avowed abolitionist, and 
on this account the slaveholders disliked him. 

At one time, Thomas Kennedy became owner, by 
inheritance, of about eighty slaves. What to do in 
the matter became a grave question. Should he 
refuse to accept them, they would be passed to other 
heirs of the estate. He could not, for conscience' 
sake, hold them as property. To release them in a 
slaveholding community would expose them to the 
liability of being kidnapped, and, besides, it was 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 385 

contrary to the law to set a slave free in a slave 
State. 

Much to the surprise of his friends and the neigh- 
boring slaveholders, he accepted them as his property. 
The slaveholders laughed and the Friends mourned. 
It was not long before there were indications of a 
long journey to be made by our friend, and more 
than usual preparations seemed necessary. Little was 
said about it except to wise counselors. One morn- 
ing the blacks were summoned and told that he 
intended to free them. They were told of the danger 
of remaining in the Southern States, and that their 
new master proposed for them to go to a land where 
they would be free. 

The rejoicing of these " children in understand- 
ing " may be more readily imagined than described. 
Though they now had a master as kind as man could 
be, who would look after their interests faithfully, yet 
they still had the inherent desire for freedom, and 
they prepared for the journey with great rejoicing. 

Thomas Kennedy took leave of his family and the 
few friends who had gathered to see them off, and 
started on his errand of love. He went by carriage 
to Newbern, and from there they set sail to the island 
of Hayti. The slaves knew not their destination, nor 
when they would reach it, but Massa Kennedy was 
with them, and such was their confidence in him that 
they were content to be with him whether on sea or 
land. 

Upon their arrival he arranged as best he could 
for them to support themselves. So much had these 



386 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

poor dependent creatures become attached to him, 
that the parting from him was an affecting scene. 
Many wept as children, and one woman so ckmg to 
him, weeping and praying to be allowed to return and 
live with him all her days, that an official standing by 
misunderstood the scene, and thinking that Thomas 
was trying to take her away with him, drew his sword 
and was about to slay him. As the officer did not 
understand the English language it was with difficulty 
that he was made to understand the real state of the 
case. 

On returning from Hayti, our friend quietly pur- 
sued his usual occupation. Inheriting more slaves, 
he sent them to Ohio and Indiana. One refused to 
leave him, and remained faithfully with him as long 
as he lived. 

After Thomas Kennedy was sent West, during the 
war, as he was one day walking the streets of Rich- 
mond, Indiana, a colored man stopped before him, 
and, after looking earnestly into his face a while, fell 
on his knees and embraced him. With eyes full of 
tears and voice choked with emotion, he said : " My 
old master ! " 

The slaveholders remembered Thomas Kennedy as 
a practical abolitionist, and even in his old age were 
watching for an opportunity to get him in their 
power in order to punish him. He had lived too long 
to come within the draft or the conscription act, and 
being a minister of the Gospel, he was on that ac- 
count also exempted from the army as a soldier, so 
they sought other ways to bring him under military 
rule. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 387 

When secession was being talked of, before the 
firing npon Fort Sumter, Thomas told the advocates 
of it that their course was " serious, dangerous and 
wrong." They then threatened to tar and feather 
him, but knowing him as a man of influence, and that 
he had many friends outside of his church as well as 
in it, they were afraid to do this on account of the 
effect it might have upon themselves. The condition 
of the neighborhood for some time before the begin- 
ning of the war was such that he felt it best to remain 
quietly at home, although regularly attending the 
place of worship with his friends, who endeavored to 
maintain their' principles of peace and liberty in the 
midst of war and slavery. 

When the Northern army came to the Neuse river, 
near Goldsboro, in the winter of '63-64, they burned 
the bridge across the river. The Confederate sol- 
diers were at one time encamped on the north side of 
the river, in full view of Thomas Kennedy's house. 
One evening after dark a knock was heard at the 
door. A man asked for food. Thomas Kennedy 
said : " I always feed the hungry as my Master bade 
me do, without asking who they are," and invited the 
man in. He was surprised to see him dressed in the 
uniform of a Union officer, but invited him to have 
supper with the family, as they were about to be 
seated at the table. The man accepted the invitation 
and told Thomas he was sent by his superior offi- 
cers to ascertain the most sure way of surrounding 
and capturing the city of Goldsboro without coming 
in contact with the Southern soldiers, as they were 



388 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

exceedingly anxious to avoid bloodshed, and that the 
capture of the city was certain. 

He was successful in gaining from Thomas the ex- 
pression that he " hoped Goldsboro would surrender 
without any more blood being shed." The interview 
being ended, after supper he requested Thomas to 
show him the way to the ford, lest in the darkness he 
might fall over the precipice. Having seen his guest 
safely on his way, Thomas started to return home, 
but was surrounded by a squad of Southern soldiers, 
who had been in hiding, and were prompt to claim 
him as their prisoner. They took him to camp, 
where for several days he was kept in sight of his own 
home, from seven to ten of the soldiers guarding him 
three times a day to his own table for their own meals 
and his. He was removed from here to Goldsboro 
jail, and in due time tried by court-martial. At the 
trial he was confronted by his guest of a few evenings 
before, now a lieutenant in an Alabama regiment, 
who was ready to swear away the liberty or the life 
of an aged Christian minister. 

Zebulon Vance, then governor of North Carolina 
and afterwards Senator of the United States, kindly 
came to see him while he was in jail. Doubtless 
wishing him free, he told him : " Do not commit 
yourself at the trial. If you say nothing, they can't 
hurt you. If you have to tell anything, tell the truth, 
but not the whole truth." 

Thomas Kennedy had ever had but one opinion 
on the subject of secession. At the beginning of 
the war he had said ; " I am a loyal man, and shall 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 389 

be until I die." On trial, with good reason to be- 
lieve that deatli would be his sentence, he said 
that he had no faith in the Confederacy and never 
believed it would stand. In bold, decisive lan<ruaoe 
he repeated : " I am a loyal man, and shall be until 
I die." W. F. Dortch, a State senator, said : " No, 
Thomas Kennedy, you are a traitor, and ought to 
be hung." Thomas Kennedy replied: "Nay, thou 
art a traitor thyself, William F. Dortch, and hast 
rebelled against the best government on earth." 
Three years later William F. Dortch confessed that he 
had used the above lang-uasre. 

Daniel Gurley, a former slave-driver, who for pay 
would often go miles at night to whip slaves, had been 
promoted by the slaveholders to some office in the 
Confederacy. He was standing by as Thomas Ken- 
nedy was brought to camp, and greatly rejoiced at 
his arrest, at which Thomas expressed his astonish- 
ment, when Daniel Gurley struck him a heavy blow 
on the mouth. Only a little later Daniel Gurley was 
struck dumb by the hand of God, and so remained 
the rest of his miserable life, which was but a few 
years. " Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith the 
Lord." 

The general who served as judge at the trial of 
Thomas Kennedy said to our friend : " You ought to 
be hung." To this he replied : " You may hang me 
if you think best ; I can die but once." Instead of 
hanging him they sent him to prison in Goldsboro as 
a political prisoner. His wife, Isabella, supplied hira 
with food and provided for his comfort in every way 
that she could. 



390 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

On going to see him one morning she was surprised 
to learn that he had been sent to Salisbury prison, 
about two hundred and fifty miles away. She made 
hurried preparations and started to follow him, leav- 
ing home a little past noon, with his little boy. In 
fording the river they found the water deeper than 
they expected. The water ran into the buggy and 
wet their clothing and persons, while the horse had 
to swim ; but love impelled her onward. She stopped 
at Lazarus Pearson's for the night. After the reso- 
lute woman had retired, Mrs. Pearson washed their 
wet clothing and had it ready for use when they were 
ready to go on their way to Salisbury the next 
morning. 

Isabella Kennedy, again a widow, and over eighty 
years old, is now living in Spiceland, Indiana, a dear 
mother in Israel. Having been asked for some ac- 
count of these trying exj)eriences, she has kindly 
furnished the following. Though written with the 
trembling hand of age, it is perfectly legible. She 
says, under date of Third month, 1893 : 

" In reply to thy request I hope to give testimony 
to the truth, as a witness to the goodness and mercy 
of our Heavenly Father, which may cheer some poor 
soul. 

" While in jail in Goldsboro we made him very 
comfortable, furnished him cooked food, bedding, fire, 
etc. At Salisbury I found him without any of these. 
Then he was suffered to occupy one of those brick 
buildings in the yard with three Northern men, which 
was an improvement over the big room with hundreds 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 391 

of prisoners in it, windows all broken out, and no fire, 
only sucli as could be built of green wood in the mid- 
dle of the dirt floor. 

" He was told that if he would not attempt to go 
out he need not be confined to the house, but go at 
large, which he did ; and from that day he was busy 
visiting the sick and cheering in many ways the suffer- 
ing. The next day after I met him he wrote me that 
he had been hanging up the bacon and sausage that I 
took him. 

" Two little boys, twelve and fourteen years of age, 
were taken from their homes and put in the terrible 
prison because their father had deserted the Southern 
army. One of them was very sick, and had no one 
to care for him. Their mother was outside pleading 
to enter and care for her boys, but the officials would 
not allow it. 

" I was the first woman that was ever permitted to 
enter the garrison. Confederate money was cheap 
and plentiful, and we kept a sujjply. A lady attended 
market and furnished Thomas with fruit, vegetables, 
etc. They threatened burning her house if she per- 
sisted, but she kept on and outlived the prejudice. 
They finally became reconciled and treated her with 
respect. 

" C. G. Perkins, from Goldsboro, was there. He 
was kept in the prison over a year with no charge 
against him. His brother, Needham Perkins, a min- 
ister, was with me. They tried to scare us away by 
telling us that smallpox was all over the place. Pa- 
tience and perseverance have accomplished much, and 



392 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

in this case did more than we could think or ask. 
The second visit was more remarkable than the first, 
but it has been a long time since these scenes, and my 
feeble frame cannot bear the strain of the review. I 
have to give it up. Suffice it to say that goodness has 
followed us all the days of our lives, and my hope is 
that we may dwell in the House of the Lord forever. 
Isabella Kennedy Hall." 

Thomas Kennedy's wife took with her provisions, 
clothing and bedding for her husband's use. She was 
at first denied admission to the prison grounds, but 
was finally allowed to see him for an hour on the 
porch of an officer's house. It was raining and very 
cold. The officer in charge said to her : " It is too 
cold for you to stand here. Come inside." She re- 
plied: "If my husband must stay in a cold room 
without fire and with only a little straw to lie upon, I 
can stand in the rain to talk to him one hour." The 
man looked rebuked and said : " Mr. Kennedy shall 
have more comfortable quarters," which were provided 
at once, in one of the smaU brick buildings within the 
stockade. Here he had as fellow-prisoners Calvin G. 
Perkins, a Friend from Goldsboro, Stephen Pancost 
of Pennsylvania, and another Friend, all imprisoned 
because they were supposed to hold Union sentiments. 
Isabella Kennedy was allowed to fix up his room, as 
best she could. She filled a tick with straw and did 
many other things which a practical loving woman 
could do and left him comparatively comfortable. 
Three months later she went to Salisbury. Thomas 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 393 

and his two friends had been told that they were to 
be exchanged, and when Isabella arrived they were 
making preparations for departure. She promptly 
reported her arrival to the authorities and requested 
that she might see her husband, but was positively 
refused admittance. From the window of his prison 
he had seen her, and called to attract her attention. 
The heart of the officer was touched by their greetings 
to such an extent that he relented and allowed her to 
go to her husband and assist in the preparations for 
his removal. In one hour from that time they started 
for the train. She was allowed to ride in the same 
car with him as far as Raleigh. There they separated ; 
he to go on to Castle Thunder, Richmond, Va., as a 
prisoner of war, she to return home to the care of the 
farm and the four children, one of them his by a for- 
mer wife, one of them hers, and two of them adopted. 
With the aid of two colored girls, one sixteen and 
one eighteen years old, and an occasional day's work 
from some one too old for the war, she managed to 
make them a comfortable living. One of the children 
says : " We had plenty to eat, though we had no coffee 
and only a little sugar for medicines ; very little flour ; 
but we lived better than many did. Mother and the 
children rose early, and we went to the fields to work 
until nearly school time ; when we had eaten break- 
fast the little ones started on their two and a half 
miles' walk to school. The two colored girls went 
back to the fields. We made our own clothes, shoes, 
hats and bonnets. We raised some chickens and tur- 
keys, but some one came one night and carried all 



394 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

these away, but mother dared not say a word. She 
only prayed that her family might not be personally 
injured, and we were not." 

In Richmond, Thomas Kennedy was placed in a 
large upper room, the windows of which were broken 
out. He was obliged to lie on the bare floor, having 
no straw even to lie upon. Provisions were scarce 
and of very poor quality. He was soon taken very 
sick. His friend Pancost nursed him and did all he 
could for his comfort, but it was impossible to obtain 
medical attendance, medicines, or suitable food. He 
finally became unconscious, and it seemed as though 
he would die. He was then placed on the cars by the 
authorities, and sent to Washington as an exchanged 
prisoner of war. He was left in that city with no one 
to care for him, and was found in a weak, delirious 
condition wandering on the streets. Abraham Lin- 
coln learned of the case, and said if he was a Friend 
he was no prisoner of war. He had him cared for, 
and sent word to Friends in Philadelphia concerning 
his condition. Marshal Elliott, who was acquainted 
with him, was sent by Philadelphia Friends to take 
him to that city, where he was provided with medical 
attendance and nurses, and all was done for him that 
love and money could provide. Friends having 
learned that he had a son in Illinois, sent for him, and 
he remained with his father until he so far recovered 
his health as to be able to go to his friends in Indiana. 
He never could remember his leaving Richmond, or 
his arrival in Washington or Philadelphia. Before 
leaving Philadelphia he attended their yearly meeting 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 395 

in 1863, and seems to have created quite an interest 
there, as a minister who had suffered so peculiarly and 
severely for his principles. 

We quote the following from a letter written by 
Charles Atherton to Elizabeth Meader about that 
time : " I am more particvdarly interested in writing 
thee at this time because we have had with us a ' saint ' 
from North Carolina, Thomas Kennedy, on whose be- 
half the sympathy of all Friends seems to have been 
excited, he having suffered much from imprisonment 
and from sickness ' nigh unto death.' " 

Soon after reaching Indiana, Thomas Kennedy's 
condition became so serious that word was sent to his 
wife, who was still on the banks of the Neuse river in 
North Carolina. She arranged immediately to disjjose 
of all her effects. She had an auction and sold all 
her personal property, and with her four little ones 
she started for the West, where her beloved husband 
anxiously awaited her. Isabella and her four children 
crossed streams and mountains, successfully evading 
the pickets and dangers of various kinds, and in re- 
markably short time, considering the circumstances, 
she stood by the bedside of her sick and almost dying 
husband. He recognized her and praised God for 
having brought her safely to him before he died. 

He enquired lovingly after Friends and others in 
North Carolina, and felt so much interest in them 
that he addressed a letter to them. Wishing his per- 
secutors to know that he forgave them, he entrusted 
his friends in this letter with a message of love and 
forgiveness for aU who had in any way mistreated him 



396 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

or added to his afflictions. This document was borne 
with a flag of truce by Northern soldiers to Southern 
officials, and safely delivered to his friends at Neuse. 
After the satisfactory adjustment of his affairs, he 
lost consciousness, and in twelve days from the time 
of his wife's arrival his life of suffering and faithful 
service was ended, with his work all done and well 
done. His beloved wife had done all she could for 
him, and been truly faithful until the last. She now 
laid him away to rest, rejoicing in the knowledge that 
he had " fought a good fight," had " kept the faith," 
and that a crown of glory was his in heaven. The 
dear old lady is now patiently awaiting the coming of 
the Lord to take her redeemed spirit also to the 
heavenly home, where there shall be no more separa- 
tion from those we love ; no more prison doors to be 
opened ; and where the cruel hand of war shall never 
detract from the heavenly bliss of those who reign 
forever with the Prince of Peace. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Yet firm and steadfast, at his duty's post 

Fronting the violence of a maddened host, 

Like some gray rock from which the waves are tossed ! 

Knowing his deeds of love, men questioned not 

The faith of one whose walk and word were right, — 
Who tranquilly in Life's great taskfield wrought. 
And, side by side with evil, scarcely caught 

A stain upon his pUgrim garb of white ; 
Prompt to redress another's wrong, his own 
Leaving to Time and Truth and Penitence alone. 

Whittier. 

We have already learned of the Underground Rail- 
road, and how its business was not only interfered 
with by the war, but absolutely ruined by the Eman- 
cipation Proclamation. We left that subject, inti- 
mating that we should learn more of it. 

There were many living in the South who did not 
wish to stay there amid the disturbances and troubles 
caused by the war. Their homes had in many cases 
become unsafe abiding places for those who had en- 
joyed them for many years. The necessity of again 
operating the road became apparent. Many of the old 
stations were still in existence, and the officers were 
still at their posts. It was very easily put in order 
for the distance required to meet the need which now 
arose, — that of passing on their way men, women and 
children who were native-born white citizens; some- 



398 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

times men of large estates and comfortable homes, who 
were not allowed to remain peacefully at their homes 
nor to depart to their friends in the North or West, 
if it could be prevented. 

Lazarus Pearson, in his opposition to the war, was 
one of the most outspoken and prominent men among 
the Friends of Contentnea Quarterly Meeting or per- 
haps of any other. He could not join in the recrim- 
inations against President Lincoln and Vice-Presi- 
dent Hamlin. He emphasized the necessity of peace, 
and when asked his opinions, declared that the agita- 
tors of secession were teaching the people an error. 
When told by these people that they woidd " soon 
starve out the North," he replied that he had trav- 
eled North and knew that they " might as well try to 
starve a rat in a well-filled smoke-house." He said : 
" We need their products much more than they need 
ours." When told that the mulattoes in the North 
helped elect Lincoln, he replied that the mulattoes 
were the sons of Southern slaveholders, and that " the 
son should be esteemed as the father." 

When home-guards were being appointed and vol- 
unteers were being mustered, he and his friends wisely 
kept silent. But it was remembered that many had 
been careful to vote as Lazarus Pearson did, and that 
many looked to him for advice as to what they should 
do in these troublesome times. He soon received a 
letter saying : " We see from your actions that you 
are against us. You must either change your opin- 
ions, leave the country, or abide by the consequences. 
(Signed) Many Citizens of Fork Township." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 399 

Lazarus Pearson's grandfather was a Friend. His 
father was not, and was a slaveholder. Lazarus had 
been received into membership with Friends at his 
own request, and fully shared their views upon slav- 
ery as well as war. In the settlement of his father's 
estate, years before, he had refused to accept any 
slaves. As a planter he had succeeded without them. 
He had purchased from a slaveholder a large cotton 
plantation in Fork Township, Wayne County, N. C, 
and had been obliged to suffer various indignities 
from the neighboring slaveholders on account of his 
principles. They called him a " Quaker abolitionist," 
and said he ought to be banished to Massachusetts, 
the worst place they could then think of. 

The letter above referred to was recognized as being 
in the handwriting of a neighbor who had before sent 
him insulting messages. Lazarus Pearson showed it 
to the vigilance committee and others of the home- 
guard, asking what he had done for which he should 
leave his home. Of course they claimed to know 
nothing of the letter, or any reason why he should 
leave their midst. At the May term of county court, 
which was held soon after at Goldsboro, many people 
thronged the streets. Threats had been made that 
on that day Unionists were to suffer. The supposed 
author of the above letter, with a mob which he led, 
gathered about Lazarus Pearson and asked concerning 
it whether he had compared it with any of his writing. 
Lazarus calmly answered in the affirmative. The 
man denied the writing of the letter, but confessed to 
the sentiment, and with others began upbraiding him 



400 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

for his allegiance to the United States. They de- 
manded that he should then and there recant his abo- 
lition principles. But Lazarus was not of the recant- 
ing kind. They brought a rope to hang him with, and 
asked if he had any weapons. He produced a pocket 
knife and a tooth-pick, saying : " Those are all." 
They dragged him to an old blacksmith shop. He 
said : "If you are going to hang me, take me to the 
central part of the town where all the citizens of 
Goldsboro can see it." Fully a hundred men had 
gathered about him. He told them that he had said 
nothing harmful of any one and had nothing to take 
back ; that he claimed only the right of a free citizen. 
Some one said : " We ought not to hang so good a 
citizen as he is." Others, one of whom had been a 
professed friend of his, answered : " We must make 
an example of some one. He has influenced so many 
against our Confederacy." Then a voice was heard 
loud and clear : " It is a shame on American citizens 
to hang such a man as Lazarus Pearson." They so 
disagreed among themselves that all finally dispersed 
except two young men who had followed quietly all 
the time, one at each of Lazarus Pearson's elbows. 
He had hardly noticed them in the throng, but now 
they said : " Mr. Pearson, you stood up like a Chris- 
tian and did not withhold the truth. We would have 
died with you rather than have seen you hung." He 
did not know them. They told him that years before 
he had entertained them as strangers at his house and 
cared for them when in need, and they had not for- 
gotten him. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 401 

As the crowd scattered, the people warned him not 
to come to Goldsboro again, but in three days he went, 
saying he was " as safe in Goldsboro as anywhere else 
when tlireats were so common." 

For more than a year after this experience he 
thought seriously of leaving the South, but could not 
feel free to do so, and he finally became satisfied that 
his mission was to remain there and help others of the 
oppressed, white and black, especially those who felt 
that war was wrong. It was not long before this 
class of people learned that if any one was in need of 
helj) on his way North or West, Lazarus was the man 
who could and woidd aid him. His home was on the 
public road, and many halted there for rest and food. 
Men, women and children stayed hours or weeks, 
and were assisted in different ways. This was one of 
the main stations on the Underground Railroad, and 
Lazarus Pearson was general manager for all that 
section of the country. 

His son Nathan was conscripted and sent to the 
salt-works before referred to, but not being well he 
was allowed to go home, and he soon took passage for 
the North, where he remained until after the war. It 
was difficult to do so much in secret. He was closely 
watched on account of suspicions that he was working 
against the Confederacy. He must of necessity be 
very guarded in his movements. 

In 1863 and 1864 the Federals made a raid upon 
the neighborhood of Goldsboro, and the Unionists 
were in hopes that the town would be taken. The 
secessionists prepared to flee, and yet some of them 



402 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

were ready to injure their opponents if opportunity 
occurred without danger to themselves. 

A son of John Moore, a Friend, on the other side 
of the river from Goldsboro, had come to town to 
bring a disabled soldier. Before he could return, a 
guard had been placed on the bridge, and he was not 
able to get home, so he went to Lazarus Pearson for 
help. Knowing how anxious his friend would be 
about his twelve-year-old boy, Lazarus started for the 
ford of the river, from where he thought he could call 
to Thomas Kennedy, and send word to John Moore 
that the boy was safe, if he found the water too high 
for crossing the ford. 

As he rode on he saw a negro boy approaching rap- 
idly on horseback. As they met, the boy slackened 
his speed and hung his head as if in meditation, and 
then stopped his horse and said : " Are you going to 
the Kennedy ford, Mr. Pearson ? " He answered in 
the affirmative. "Well, don't do it. They took Mr. 
Kennedy last night, and I heard my master say, 
' We '11 get old Pearson to-day on his way to Quaker 
meeting.' " He was very sure that the Friends would 
go to meeting whether the Yankees came or not. The 
boy said his master was Boaz Hooks. Lazarus re- 
membered him as the one who was in some way 
connected with all his persecutions. The boy said : 
" Don't tell on me, Mr. Pearson. They would kill 
me." Lazarus assured him that he need not fear, and 
rode on to the fork of the road where he turned oif 
his way and went to the home of an aged Friend for 
breakfast. He then returned home and took the boy 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 403 

Moore to the guarded bridge where he succeeded in 
securing leave for him to pass and go home. 

It was designed to hale both Lazarus Pearson and 
Thomas Kennedy to prison and to death on this occa- 
sion, and every means they could devise was ex- 
hausted by some of their neighbors in order to bring 
it about. The little colored boy proved to be his 
friend in this instance. 

A few days later Lazarus was surrounded on the 
streets of Goldsboro by a mob that insulted him 
shamefully, and one man struck him on the face. He 
calmly said : " The Master bade us turn the other 
cheek also. If need be, I am willing to suffer for my 
principles." A number of men were standing by 
whom he had hardly noticed. They had their hands 
in their pockets, but with the quiet determination of 
their class they were ready for action when the time 
should come. They said they did not propose to see 
him any further abused, and it was not done. They 
said they were from the mountains of North Carolina. 

Lazarus Pearson was not a man likely to provoke 
insult, but he had the courage of his convictions and 
would not flinch from what he believed to be the 
right, even though death itself might be the penalty. 
His influence was felt wherever he was known, and 
men learned to rely upon him as they naturally do 
upon strong characters. He often said that he was 
satisfied that it was the will of God for him to re- 
main in the South, but he longed to see the end and 
the Union saved. He looked for real peace only upon 
the restoration of the seceded States and the abolition 



404 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

of slavery. He labored on unceasingly, often making 
exposing and dangerous journeys, aiding others to ob- 
tain exemption. 

The main route of the Underground Railroad was 
from Goldsboro to Rich Square, in Northampton 
County, then across the Chowan river to Norfolk. 
Another way was from Lazarus Pearson's house forty 
miles by buggy toward Newbern, and then by foot the 
rest of the way. Only men, and they with an expe- 
rienced guide, undertook this route. The most of 
either way was traveled only by night. 

Lazarus Pearson's wife and daughters kept the 
house open for all comers, and the two little boys 
were posted and did well their part. Although too 
small to be suspected of having any hand in railroad 
management, many a trip by day or by night did they 
make successfully with the spirited horses ; forward- 
ing men, women and children on their way to a place 
of freedom and safety. Seldom did any of their 
passengers fall into the hands of the enemy. But on 
one occasion two young men making their escape from 
the army had been safely conducted by one of the boys 
to the next station, and had gotten nearly to New- 
bern, when they were captured, put on freight cars 
and started for Libby prison. In the vicinity of 
Goldsboro they managed to escape out of the side 
door of the car, and get to Lazarus Pearson's house. 
They soon started again, and this time were success- 
ful in reaching then* friends in the West. 

As the end of the war aiDproached, during Sherman's 
march, thousands of Northern prisoners were taken 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 405 

from tlie Andersonville and Florence stockades to pre- 
vent their being recaptured by Sherman. Near Golds- 
boro they were turned loose without food or shelter, 
and left on the ground, starving and dying daily from 
hunger, cold and dampness. The whole community 
was moved to feed them, some through sympathy and 
many through fear of the coming Union forces. 

As Lazarus Pearson was feeding two, they asked 
the way to his home. He told them, not expecting 
ever to see them there. One was so weak that he 
reeled as he walked. That night they succeeded in 
evading the guards and reached Lazarus Pearson's 
house in safety. They said they knew by his looks that 
he was a good man, and that a good man would help 
them in their great need. They were soon dressed as 
citizens, and after two weeks' rest they obtained pass- 
age on the Underground Railroad and went home. 

Day after day Lazarus Pearson fed the hungry, 
turning none from his door. His fertile brain sought 
out many ways of relief ; his active body performed 
heroic sei-vice. Two plantations had been cleared by 
him, and their lowlands drained and made to produce 
bread for the hungry. His powers, taxed beyond en- 
durance, failed, and typhoid fever prostrated him 
upon a bed where day after day he was watched by 
loved ones, with alternating fear and hope. But the 
time had come for him to " rest from his labors," and 
with visions before him of liberated men, women and 
children, he rejoiced at the part he had taken in their 
freedom. He heard whisperings of things beyond the 
vail, and with smiles upon his face passed on to the 
land of eternal freedom. 



406 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The next Jay after he was burled, the noise of battle 
was distinctly heard in the distance. Twenty miles 
south, the battle of Bentonsville was fought. Sher- 
man's army of 150,000 men, on their way from 
Georgia, had met Johnston's retreating from Golds- 
boro. Bitter indeed was the conflict, but Sherman 
routed the Southerners and pursued his way to obtain 
supplies sent him from Newbern to Goldsboro. He 
had been living upon the country, and terrible devas- 
tation was the result. An advance guard of seven 
cavalrymen came to Lazarus Pearson's former home, 
as the family was about sitting down to breakfast. 
They took the places of the family at the table, and 
after their breakfast began plundering the place. 
They took carriages, buggies, five of the finest horses, 
and a yoke of oxen. They loaded all with choice 
meats, sugar, eggs, flour, etc., and departed. 

An hour later a Pennsylvania regiment came and 
helped themselves to potatoes, poultry, thousands of 
pounds of bacon, and everything else hungry soldiers 
could wish. They also searched every part of the 
house. The colonel was remonstrated with, and shown 
papers and letters proving the Union sentiments of 
the family. He stopped the destruction of the 
property and confined their takings to that which was 
needfid to satisfy immediate hunger. But this was 
only a temporary respite. Soon the large lawn in 
front of the house was filled with men, and all day 
they were coming and going. The dwelling-house 
was scarcely free from their presence during the day. 

The explanations to the officers of Friends' princi- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 407 

pies, their Union sentiments, and sufferings for them, 
were understood by some, hut .availed little with 
hungry men who had been on the march for seven 
weeks, since leaving Savannah February 1st, and all 
the way living by this same means. They said they 
had no other way of living, and if the buildings were 
sjxared the family should be thankful, for in South 
Carolina they had in every instance burned the build- 
ings after taking the food and property. 

In the evening the members of the hungry family 
were told that if they had anything to eat they should 
be protected while cooking it. We remember that 
their prepared breakfast had been eaten by others, 
and they had eaten nothing all day. A little corn 
meal and a dressed turkey were brought from some 
secret hiding-place, and by the light of the evening 
lamp they were permitted to break tlieir fast. 

Sherman's men soon entered Goldsboro. John- 
ston's army, having been defeated at the battle of 
Bentonsville, was hovering in the vicinity, and soon a 
company of cavalry appeared at our friend's house 
and demanded of the son Thomas where the Yankee 
soldiers were, and threatened to shoot him if lie did 
not tell. He was " a chip of the old block " and told 
them they might do as they would ; he did not pre- 
tend to know who any one was those times. They be- 
came satisfied that Sherman's men were in Goldsboro, 
five miles away, and they took up their quarters near 
by, feeding their horses from what was left in the 
barn and helping themselves to whatever they could 
find. For several days they thus lived on the family. 



408 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Sherman's army remained about twentj^ days in 
Goldsboro, while he visited Washington. In the 
meantime the men were resting from their long march 
and many of them scouring the country round for 
whatever they could find. While there they were 
furnished with new clothing and provisions by the 
Government. 

After the departure of Sherman's army from Golds- 
boro, and of the company of Confederate cavalry from 
our friend's, they began looking about them to see 
what they had to do with, and what they could do. 
The head of the house, whose fertile brain and active 
body had been their reliance, was gone. The boys 
and their mother must now depend upon their own 
energies and management, and resolutely they under- 
took the task. Two horses were brought from the 
woods, where they had been hurriedly tied in a thicket 
at the first coming of the soldiers, and fed in secrecy. 
One of them was too young for hard work, but was 
able to do light ploughing. Two thousand pounds of 
pork was ixnearthed from under the smoke-house, 
where it had been buried, and with the remnants 
gathered the family was able to begin the work of 
making another crop in much better condition than 
many of their neighbors. 

Although robbed of so much, they had enough left 
to subsist upon until more could be made, and they 
never had to appeal for help or accept rations issued 
by the United States government to the starving citi- 
zens, as so many did. 

Eight years afterwards the estate was paid $1600 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 409 

in settlement of a valid claim for $3000 and interest, 
for the provisions, horses, cattle, etc., taken by the 
Union men from as true a patriot as dwelt in any 
part of the country. This was about the interest for 
the time of the delayed settlement, without the prin- 
cipal, but war measures and war settlements are sel- 
dom arrived at on a scale of justice. 

Living across the river from the home of Thomas 
Kennedy was his brother minister, Ncedham Perkins. 
He was a neighbor of Lazarus Pearson. It was he 
who accompanied Isabella Kennedy on her visit to 
Salisbury, and whose letter concerning his brother has 
already been given. Thomas Kennedy and Needham 
Perkins often conferred together and with the elders 
of their respective meetings as to the wisest course for 
them to pursue. They were in their native land, but 
among strangers so far as any friendships or confi- 
dences were concerned outside of their own small 
circle, and it was necessary to have a united under- 
standing as to their best course. They were the 
natural leaders of their little flocks during these try- 
ing times, and the welfare of those flocks depended 
largely upon their teachings and examples. They 
were loving brothers in Christ, and the visits to each 
other and the hours spent in conferring ijpou the 
condition of church and state, when they sought 
together God's help and guidance, were a mutual 
strength and encouragement. These people were 
isolated from their neighbors because of a well-de- 
fined difference of sentiment, which had existed from 
childhood. Now, because of the attempt to force upon 



410 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

others tlie views and practices of slaveholders, a bar- 
rier was created between neighbors, so strong as to 
cause them to look upon each other with distrust. 
Yet a certain respect was shown these men by the gen- 
erality of the people, because they were ministers of 
the Gospel. This is still characteristic of the South, 
and the people are to be commended for their obedi- 
ence to the Scriptural injunction : " And we beseech 
you, brethren, to know them which labor among you 
and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you ; 
and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's 
sake."i 

As a minister, Needham Perkins was exempted 
from draft and conscription. The soldiers often came 
to his house, and he fed them ; when sick he nursed 
them. Occasionally men came to his home, hunting 
for horses and wagons or anything that might be use- 
ful to the army, and while they sometimes appropri- 
ated his property, they did not rob him as they did 
many others. At one time they came and told him 
that they had come to press his horses and wagons 
into service. He told them : " The horses are in the 
barn, and the wagons under the shed." They replied : 
" Oh, you are too willing ! We won't go for them," 
and they did not. He fully carried out his principles 
of non-resistance, and was well known as a peace-man. 
He never carried weapons of any kind. 

We have already learned of the unsettled state of 
things for a time following the surrender ; how the 
armed men went about the country robbing and mur- 
1 1 Thess. V. 12, 13. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 411 

clering men of Union sentiments. On one occasion, 
after a business trip away, Needham Perkins arrived 
at Pikeville and had left the depot to walk one and a 
half miles to his home. The full moon was shedding 
her silver light upon his pathway, and with happy 
thoughts of his dear wife and children he expected 
so soon to be with, he hurried forward. A little way 
in the distance he saw two men in the shadow of a 
pine-tree by the roadside. They were watching his 
approach ; but without thought of danger Needham 
hurried forward, to find upon nearer approach that 
one of the men was pointing a gun at him. Believing 
that no one could mean to harm him, he told the men 
his name, thinking they had mistaken him for some 
one else. But no, he was the man they were waiting 
for, and had planned to waylay and murder. With 
the gun aimed at his heart, the man pulled the trigger, 
but it missed fire. Immediately a crushing blow was 
struck upon his head, knocking him down. Blow 
succeeded blow, and his skull was fractured over the 
left eye. His left ear was nearly cut off, his jawbone 
broken, all his upper front teeth knocked out and the 
lower ones broken off ; a gash was cut across his throat 
three inches long, and many other wounds were made 
upon him. Still he retained consciousness. He 
readily saw that the men intended to kill him, and 
that his life depended upon his making them believe 
they had done so. He felt each terrible blow, and the 
pressure of the keen blade upon his throat and into 
his flesh, but as he could do nothing he kept quiet 
without showing signs of life, and allowed them to 



412 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

roll him over and take from his pockets 11250 and 
papers of about the same value. 

He heard them start on their way, but they soon 
returned to make sure that he was really dead, and 
after turning him over again and again, satisfied that 
they had accomplished their terrible purpose, they 
departed. He lay there about an hour before feeling 
sufficiently sure that they were gone to arise and go 
on his way. He succeeded in reaching his father's 
house, a quarter of a mile away. His father met 
him at the door but did not know him until he told 
his name. 

As soon as he had finished telling his father the 
story, he became unconscious. His wife and the doc- 
tor were sent for. Twenty-one days, Sarah, his wife, 
sat by him, doing all that the most tender affection 
could promjit to save the life of the one who was so 
precious to her and their children. The doctor after- 
ward repeatedly declared that the excellent nursing 
and constant care to keep fresh water on the wounds 
had saved his life. 

The next morning after the occurrence the officers 
visited the place where he had been so terribly 
treated. They found the gun-barrel with the charge 
still in it, but with no lock or stock attached. The 
broken stock was found in one place and the lock in 
another. Near by there was a pool of blood. The 
sheriff of the county seemed very desirous of securing 
evidence to convict the guilty parties, and visited the 
sick man repeatedly to see if he was correct in his 
suspicions of certain persons. He asked Needham : 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 413 

" Do you have any idea who it was you saw by 
the pine-tree ? " Needham was unable to talk, but 
he gave an affirmative nod of the head. The sheriff 
then asked with eagerness if it was the two persons 
he named on whom suspicion rested ; but Needham 
would not answer. The sheriff asked him to nod his 
head or press his hand if the right j)ersons were 
named ; but he would give no information that might 
lead to the conviction of the men who had so brutally 
attempted to murder him. 

Needham Perkins knew that if he said it was a 
certain man, that man would be hung on his evidence. 
He afterwards stated that he was fully satisfied who 
the men were, but he did not see that he would be 
justified in causing their death ; that he was a Chris- 
tian and loved his enemies. He lived for some years 
after this and departed this life in peace, an honored 
Christian minister. 

The mother and children worked the little farm, 
and she labored faithfully to educate the children and 
bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. 

A few years after the death of the father, the writer 
was conversing with one of the sons about giving his 
heart to the Lord. He replied : " No ! not until I 
have killed the men who attempted to murder my 
father." He was working to discover them, and 
when discovered he proposed that their lives should 
pay for their crime. He well knew that the nature 
of true religion, such as his father had possessed, 
would not permit such an act, and in the unregenerate 



414 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

state of his heart he wished first to have vengeance, 
then religion, and was not ready to leave it with him 
who said : " Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith 
the Lord." lie did not consider that the spirit of the 
Lord Jesus would take the evil desires out of his heart, 
and give him the spirit of love which so fully pos- 
sessed his father, and in which he had so j)eacefully 
passed away. 

Shortly after this the mother's heart was gladdened 
by hearing her son confess his sins and accept his 
father's Saviour. She is still living, a sweet-spirited 
grandmother, rejoicing in the happy homes of her sons 
and daughters, where the grandchildren eagerly watch 
for her coming to spend a little time witli them. She 
rejoices in the present, desiring to forget much of the 
past, and with bright hopes for the future looks 
beyond the vail for union again with him who in other 
days walked by her side. She testified recently : 
" When His rod smites us. His staff is sufficient to 
support us if we are willing to lean upon it." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The day is breaking in the East, of which the Prophets tokl, 
And hrig'litens np the sky of Time the Christian age of Gold ; 
Ohl Might to Right is yiehling, battle bhide to clerkly jjen, 
Earth's monarchs are her peoples, and her serfs stand uj) as men ; 
The isles rejoice together, in a day are nations born. 
And the slave walks free in Tunis, and by Stamboul's Golden Horn. 

WlIITTIElt. 

Northern farmers know little, by experience, of 
the ravages and devastation of war. There were no 
companies of foragers hunting over their premises to 
see what they could secure to feed hungry horses and 
soldiers ; no marauding bands of lawless men plunder- 
ing and taking property of all kinds, as was the case 
in the South. 

The extra prices obtained by Northern farmers 
for whatever they produced made money easy, and 
in the abundance of the things they possessed they 
could well rejoice. Not so with those who lived in 
the Southland in war time. Men who had hitherto 
worked the farms and numaged tlie estates were 
mostly in the army. The women and children, with 
now and then a little helj) or advice from those men 
who were too old for army service, had to nuxke the 
(a-ops, care for the homes and give one tenth of what 
they had produced to the Confederate government, or 



416 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

have it taken from tliern. The frequent raids of sol- 
diers of one or both armies, bushwackers, or strag- 
glers, made possession of provisions, cattle or horses 
very uncertain, as any thing was taken or destroyed 
at the will of the marauders. 

In his report, January 1, 1865, of that memorable 
march through Georgia and Carolina, General Sher- 
man states : " I estimate the damage done to the State 
of Georgia and its military resources at one hundred 
millions of dollars at least, of which twenty millions 
has inured to our advantage, and the remainder is 
simply waste and destruction. This may seem a harsh 
piece of warfare, but it brings the sad realities of war 
home to those who have been directly or indirectly 
instrumental in involving us in the attendant calami- 
ties." 

It is not difficult to imagine that complete desola- 
tion marked the track of this army, which on the first 
of April numbered 74,105 infantry, 4781 cavalry, and 
2244 artillery, besides wagon trains, their attendant 
horses, cattle, etc., all living off the country. They 
started with only twenty days' supply of bread, and 
forty days' supply of beef and coffee. Orders were 
given to keep the supply on hand up to the standard, 
and secure their necessities from the country through 
which they traveled. They marched in three and 
four columns at various distances, and destroyed and 
appropriated whatever they wished. 

Bentonsville, Johnson County, N. C, is about six- 
teen miles from Goldsboro. Near here lived William 
Cox, to whom we have referred as visiting Friends in 



SOUTHERN HEROES. ^Yl 

prison and working for their comfort and liberty. 
One Sabbath morning, as our friend was makinjr 
prei^aration to go as usual to meeting for worship, he 
was startled by the sound of battle, and the fearful 
sounds grew nearer and nearer. All day the battle 
raged in the neighborhood, and in the morning it 
began around their dwelling, where some of the neigh- 
boring women and children had sought shelter. Soon 
the bullets were heard falling on the roof. William 
closed the doors and then walked the floor, watching 
as best he could through the windows the movements 
of the men engaged in the terrible conflict, while the 
women sought refuge under the beds. Though a 
number of the bullets entered the room, none of the 
occupants were hit by them. Until ten o'clock on 
the morning of the second day the roar of cannon, 
the sharp crack of muskets and the confused noise of 
battle were heard continually without. Within the 
house the cries of the children mingled with the 
prayers of the mothers. 

After the battle ended, an officer of the United 
States army came to the door and asked if there was 
any one there. William opened the door, and the 
women obtained their first glimpse of the battlefield. 
His wife says : " I was frightened so bad I thought I 
should die. The officer said : ' Don't be frightened ; 
you shaU not be hurt.' But the fright did harm me, 
and will as long as I live. When I looked out I ex- 
pected to see the ground covered with dead men, but 
instead of that it was covered with live ones, pillaging 
and taking what they could lay their hands on. The 



418 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

officer had a little meat and lard taken into the 
house, and a few bushels of corn into the hall room. 
The dear Heavenly Father preserved all our lives, but 
we were left very destitute." 

One of those present, Sarah Winslow, says : " We 
expected every moment to be killed. The balls fell 
thick and fast upon the house. Cannon firing near 
us ! The children crying ! The tenant's wife and I 
praying aloud, asking the dear Lord to be our shield ! 
And so He was. My brother's two little children were 
with me, and the army now came between them and 
their home. The dear little things had to walk six 
miles under the care of an old Friend who could cross 
the lines. Their clothing had been taken by the sol- 
diers, and we had to beg more to make them comfort- 
able- In their excitement several Friends went to 
Goldsboro for protection, their father among others, 
and they could not get back, as the Yankee army was 
in Goldsboro, so they went on to Indiana and stayed 
a year. When they returned to their desolate homes, 
the land was there ; the houses were there ; but all 
the rest was gone." 

Johnston's and Sherman's armies had so devastated 
the country that it was necessary for Sherman to issue 
rations to the citizens as well as to the soldiers, or 
many of them would have perished. Unwilling as 
many were to eat the " Yankee rations," they were 
obliged to do it ; the country all around had been 
ransacked by Johnston's army of 36,817 men, as well 
as by Sherman's. The people were robbed of every- 
thing the soldiers could fmd to eat, and of much 
besides. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 419 

Isaac Cox, a comfortable farmer, was visited by a 
company of soldiers, who entered his house, helped 
themselves to all they wished to eat, and then began 
to look around for something to carry away. So eager 
were they in their search for gold, which they had 
heard he had, that they finally hung Isaac by the neck 
to make him reveal its hiding-place, and to save his 
life he was compelled to do so. They overturned the 
hearthstone in front of the fireplace in his sitting- 
room, and from here, to Isaac's grief and their re- 
joicing, they took seven hundred dollars in gold, and 
readily transferred it from its lopg hiding-place to 
their pockets. The child's cradle was searched, and 
the baby's clothing taken, for what reason was a 
mystery to the mother ; but William Hockett has told 
us that the soldiers took things that were of no use 
to them. 

At the house of L. J. Moore, of Neuse meeting, 
dinner was being prepared when a company of sol- 
diers called. The turkey just cooked, and all the 
good dinner the family was about to eat, was appro- 
priated by the hungry men. All the turkeys in the 
yard were caught, and the good housewife was ordered 
to produce a string with which to tie them together. 
Two dressed hogs were taken. They found a lot of 
sausage meat which had been prepared for keeping. 
This they could not very well take in crocks and cans, 
but they found a way to carry it. Mrs. Moore had 
recently spun, wove and made a suit of yarn clothing. 
This they proceeded to fill with sausage meat. Tying 
strings around the bottoms of the pants and sleeves 



420 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

of the coat, they had a sausage man, which they pro- 
ceeded to put astride of a horse. They hung the 
turkeys over the same horse's back. They took a good 
hand-made counterpane for a horse-blanket. A home- 
made sugar loaf the mother begged them in vain to 
leave for her baby. Every dish, tin pan and cooking 
utensil they either carried off or destroyed. Ever}'^- 
thing eatable of all the well-stored larder they carried 
away, save some salt and a little corn meal that had 
been overlooked. 

The family had had no dinner, the children were 
hungry, and the mother was puzzled to know how to 
feed them. It was night, but they must have bread. 
The mother finally found the meal and salt. She 
washed out the trough, from which a horse had been 
fed. In this she mixed the meal for bread and then 
baked it in the ashes. Theirs was a large family, 
and they knew not where the next bread was to come 
from ; but government rations served to supply the 
need for a time. 

Near the banks of the Neuse river lived a Friend 
named Jesse HoUowell. He was a good farmer, used 
to having plenty around him. His wife was good at 
carding, spinning and weaving, and many of the aris- 
tocratic slaveholders' wives sought instruction of her 
in this now necessary employment. It became a 
source of pride among the ladies when they could 
produce good yarn suits for their husbands or sons. 
With equal pride the men wore them. Broadcloth 
was not to be had as in other days, for love or money. 
Shoemakers, women as well as men, were respected 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 421 

on account of their calling. From the palmetto ob- 
tained from South Carolina, many made hats for them- 
selves and their neighbors. Hats made of wheat 
straw were quite common. 

As the end of the war drew near and the slave- 
holders saw that theirs was " the lost cause," they 
became anxious to save what they could, and they be- 
lieved that if they and their goods could be sheltered 
by Friends it would be better for them. Jesse Hollo- 
well was employed in moving their goods to his own 
and other Friends' houses, just before Sherman's 
army came. But the soldiers knew no difference. 
The Confederate and Union alike took whatever they 
found that they wished, without regard to the religion 
or politics of the citizens. When it was understood 
that Sherman was at Fayetteville, there was a fear 
and trembling among the people, and every effort was 
made to secrete property. 

On the day of the battle of Bentonsville, these 
Friends could not get to their meeting, as the soldiers 
were between them and the meeting-house. The dis- 
tinctness of the sounds from the battlefield made it 
seem nearer than it really was. Even the cattle 
seemed to know that there was a terrible catastrophe 
at hand. They were restless, plaintively lowing and 
wandering uneasily about all day. At Jesse Hollo- 
well's, between Bentonsville and Goldsboro, they had 
not seen a soldier during the day, but they heard the 
continual noise of battle all day, and at evening the 
sharp crack of musketry nearer by ; they went to 
bed at night without knowing the result of the day's 
bloody work. 



422 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The next morning our friend resumed his work as 
usual, not knowing what better to do. About nine 
o'clock the dog began to bark, and the boy Jesse, anx- 
ious to learn the cause, climbed upon the fence. He 
saw a lot of men and horses about the house, and 
thinking they might want the horse with which he 
was ploughing, he began to wonder where the horse 
could be secreted. Before he could decide, a man in 
blue uniform, the first Jesse had ever seen, was there, 
and ordered him to unhitch the horse ; but Jesse did 
not like to give it up, for it was one that they had 
raised and he was much attached to it. The soldier 
did not wait for him to do it, but promptly unhitched 
it himself, and mounting rode away. " It then dawned 
upon me," Jesse says, " that we were receiving a visit 
from our friends (?) the Yankees. When I reached 
the house I found that they had been to the field and 
taken a horse and cart from the boy working there. 
They were loading the cart with smoked hams, piling 
them on top of one another, with not a piece of any 
other kind of meat on the cart. They had hitched 
two horses to it, one in front of the other, — a new 
way of carting, to me. Soon others were loading a 
buggy with dried fruit and other pantry supplies. 
Bureau drawers and trunks were all searched, and the 
four dollars in specie that we (the children) had saved 
was taken away. A pot of lard that mother had hid 
in the ash-hopper, they thought a rich prize, but richer 
still the barrels, one of which had been buried in the 
smoke-house, and another placed above it, thinking if 
the top one should be taken they would not look for 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 423 

the second. But Sherman's men were used to foraa- 
ing and they found and took the two barrels of lard. 
Father tried to convince them of our Union principles, 
and mother begged to have my horse, the one she and 
the girls drove, but it was all of no avail. These 
supplies were taken to the camp near where the fight- 
ing had been going on the day before. The man with 
the buggy-load of dried fruit and pantry supplies 
finally promised mother that he would return the horse 
and buggy after getting to camp. A colored boy who 
was working with us offered to go with him and take 
them back, and to our surprise, after everything else 
had been taken or laid waste and the country was full 
of soldiers and implements of war, the man who had 
taken off the family-horse returned with him and the 
colored boy ; but said that the harness had been cut so 
badly that he could not bring the buggy back ; but it 
was afterwards recovered from a man, who, like the 
rest of us, was picking up what was left in the deserted 
camps. 

" After the first squad of soldiers left us, things 
were pretty quiet until the next day, when we went 
to work again, probably from force of habit. I was 
working near the road. A squad of Union soldiers 
passed, and one of them, being bareheaded, called me 
to the fence and took my new one hundred and fifty 
dollar hat from my head. Some additional plunder- 
ing was done at the house, but we had not seen much 
of the work, as we found afterwards. 

" On Fourth-day the wagon train camped betwixt 
us and the Neuse river, and soldiers, several files deep, 



424 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

were marching past our house all day. The woods 
were on fire. We could hear the guns as they killed 
sheep, cattle and poultry in every direction. When 
night came, it found us without dinner and with no- 
thing for supper ; not a change of clothing for men, 
women or children ; bedclothes all gone, every pillow 
and bolster ripped open and the feathers emptied out ; 
fences burned, weather-boarding stripped from the 
barn and carried off, all the washing and cooking 
utensils gone, etc., etc. Then we began to see some 
of the effects of war. 

" Fourth-day evening, when things had somewhat 
quieted down, father went down to the nearest camp 
and told an officer our situation, and asked him for 
something to eat. He was given a joint of bacon and 
probably something in the bread line. I have for- 
gotten how mother managed to cook; I only know 
that she did, and that we did not really suffer from 
the pangs of hunger. That was the only day that we 
were entirely without food. Father said that when 
on his begging trip he did not feel so badly as he did 
when he heard that South Carolina had seceded from 
the Union. 

" When the camp had been moved from the south 
side of the Neuse river, the people in this vicinity — 
and we were very convenient in this respect — raked 
up all the loose corn, shucks, fodder, etc., to feed poor, 
sore-backed and broken-down horses, which we had 
picked up preparatory to making another crop. Oc- 
casionally we would find a small piece of bacon or a 
few dried peas that they had left. All the good horses 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 425 

that they could find no use for were huddled up and 
killed. There were about a hundred and fifty killed 
within an acre's space about three-fourths of a mile 
from us, and seventy-five in another direction about 
the same distance. On moving camp they would cut 
up and mutilate buggies and carriages, pile rails upon 
them and burn them. 

"After Johnston surrendered, the United States 
commissary issued rations to citizens who would avail 
themselves of them. I have forgotten the quantity, 
but it was a certain amount of flour, pickled beef, 
sugar and coffee, weekly. I think Sixth-day was 
' draw-day ' in our section. For miles below they 
would gather at the pontoon bridge on Neuse river, 
near where we lived, and about ten o'clock they were 
allowed to cross. From there to Goldsboro and return, 
this crowd of hundreds, mostly women and all on foot, 
was accompanied by a guard of one man, detailed for 
that special purpose. Sister Kate (then a little girl) 
was our representative." 

Immediately following the surrender of Lee, North- 
ern Friends, aware of the great straits to which their 
brethren in the South were reduced, organized what 
was known as " the Baltimore Association of Friends," 
"as a channel for the distribution of aid from the 
Friends of Europe and America." Agents were sent 
to the different yearly meetings to solicit aid. Not 
only was food needed immediately to keep them from 
starving, but means for the rebuilding of their school- 
houses and meeting-houses, and foi* the education of 
their children. Most nobly did the Friends give them- 



426 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

selves to the work of relief. Our correspondent, Jesse 
HoUowell, continues his account : 

" As soon as the Baltimore Association came to our 
relief, Friends quit calling on Uncle Sam. I vividly 
recollect the day E. M. Janney and Sarah Smiley 
(agents for the Baltimore Association) came to our 
house. Things had very much quieted down, and we 
seldom saw any soldiers unless we went over toward 
Goldsboro (six miles away). One day we saw a squad 
of cavalry and a two-horse jersey-wagon coming 
through the plantation. There were no fences to hin- 
der. They drew near, and it appeared as though they 
were going to call. We felt as though we did not 
want any more soldiers' calls. Mother started to go 
out, thinking to give them instructions on getting to 
the public road, one fourth of a mile distant, but 
Richard Janney and the officer in charge wished to 
know if Jesse HoUowell lived there, and on being 
answered in the affirmative alighted with baggage in 
hand and were coming in. The soldiers had taken 
their leave and turned for Goldsboro. Mother met 
them. Introducing themselves, they told their mission 
before going into the house. It was joyful news to 
us. When father returned at night I told him of it 
and he could hardly help shouting. 

" With our warlike neighbors, it was a question 
how the Quakers North and South could love each 
other and be on such friendly terms at the close of 
such a bloody war ' between the sections.' " 

Johnston accepted the generous terms of General 
Sherman, which he dictated in accordance with what 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 427 

he understood to be Abraham Lincoln's policy, but 
these terms were not satisfactory to some in authority, 
and were finally rejected, making it quite probable 
that further blood would be shed ; but rather than 
continue the now hopeless undertaking to establish the 
Confederacy, Johnston finally accepted the more ex- 
acting terms required by others, and on the twenty- 
sixth of April surrendered his army. 

On the tenth of May, Jefferson Davis was captured 
at Irwinsville, in the south of Georgia. On the four- 
teenth of May all the Confederate troops east of the 
Mississippi laid down their arms. On the twenty- 
sixth of May all west of the " Father of Waters " 
followed, and the Confederate States of America 
were no more. The high ambitions of her statesmen 
and office-seekers were fallen, their hopes blasted, and 
their slaves forever free. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

A redder sea than Egypt's wave 
Is piled and parted for the slave ; 
A darker cloud moves on in light ; 
A fiercer fire is guide by night. 

The praise, O Lord 1 is thine alone, 
In thine own way the work is done. 
Our poor gifts at thy feet we cast, 
To whom be glory first and last. 

Whittier. 

The thought in writing this book was that it would 
help to convince the reader that arbitration is the 
best way to settle international difficulties. Some- 
times this may be done by showing the awful results 
of war. 

A recent visit to many of the Southern battle- 
fields, where occurred some of the most disastrous 
conflicts of the war of 1861-65, has so impressed the 
writer that he has ventured to introduce the following 
summary account of a few of the scenes of carnage. 
He knows that what is described was no part of the 
work of " the Friends in war time," and yet it may 
have a part in so teaching men the horrors of battle 
that they will " learn war no more." 

Fredericksburg is the chief town of Spottsylvania 
County, Virginia. It has about five thousand inhabi- 
tants, and is situated on the south bank of the Rap- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 429 

paliannock river, sixty-nine miles from Washington, 
D. C, and sixty-seven miles from Richmond, Va. 
George Washington was born near here, and the 
house in which his mother lived is still standing, 
being kept in order by the Masonic lodge that claimed 
Washington as a member. Near Fredericksburg is 
an unfinished monument which marks the burial-place 
of the mother of George Washington. 

Just out of the suburbs rise St. Mary's Heights, 
and away to the southwest stretches the level plain 
between the heights and the river. This plain is six 
miles long and from one-half mile to one and a half 
miles broad. On St. Mary's Heights are a National 
and a Confederate cemetery, side by side. Here sleep 
those who wore the blue and those who wore the gray. 
It matters not to them now which side they served. 
Peaceably they sleep together on that hill, in one 
great "city of the dead," overlooking the smaller 
city on the plain, bordering the noble Rappahannock, 
with the heights sheltering its flowing waters on 
either side. 

In the Federal cemetery 15,000 graves are marked 
with marble slabs, 12,000 of them with one sad word, 
" Unknown," on them. In the vicinity of this city 
were fought five of the most bloody battles of the 
war. In other cemeteries were laid many thousands 
of the brave boys in blue or gray, who fell upon these 
fields of carnage, and many were never given a place 
in any cemetery. Each died, as he thought, for the 
sake of his country, and they slew each other not be- 
cause they had any hatred one for another as mon, nor 



430 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

because tliey had complaints against one another ; 
but from place of birth, education, mistaken views 
and force of circumstances they were arrayed against 
one another as soldiers in mortal combat. 

The writer recently visited the little city upon the 
plain, upon which one of God's servants, George 
Whitefield, pronounced a curse, and concerning 
which he made a remarkable prophecy. The pre- 
dictions were literally fulfilled within the time spe- 
cified. While there we read the story of " George 
Whitefield's Curse," as given by Isabel Worrell Ball 
in the " Evening Star," of Washington, D: C. It 
may not be inappropriate to give it in this con- 
nection. 

A CURSE ON FREDERICKSBURG. 

" In 1769 George Whitefield, one of the founders 
of Methodism, and, until they split on doctrinal 
rocks, the fast friend of John Wesley, pronounced a 
curse upon Fredericksburg, which, in the light of 
to-day, seems almost prophetic. The reformer was 
an eccentric man, as fidl of whims as a watch is of 
wheels, and he was hence the legitimate prey of the 
small boy, who was ubiquitous then as now. 

" While preaching in the open air over against the 
heights of Fredericksburg in 1769, the young hood- 
lums of the town set upon him and drove him to a 
frenzy. Turning upon his tormenters, like an aveng- 
ing demon, he cursed the town and all that it con- 
tained, in the lurid language of the day. He 
consigned it all to Hades and ordered red-hot trim- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 431 

mings for the reception decorations. He predicted 
that for the ungodliness of the town and its inhospi- 
table treatment of himself misfortune should overtake 
its inhabitants, and before the curse should be fully- 
worked out the streets should run red with blood. He 
concluded by saying that for one hundred years it 
should stand still, and not a soul should it grow till 
the century was gone. 

"When the census of 1870 was taken, one year 
more than the century named, the population num- 
bered just four more souls than it did when the old 
man turned his invective loose upon it. 

" How the soul of the old Calvinist must have 
gloated over the fulfillment of his prophecy, the 
climax to his curse, if it was hovering over that pretty 
little town on that foggy morning when the plain over 
which he stretched his bony hands was turned into a 
veritable Golgotha, and the Rappahannock ran red 
with blood." 

In the five bloody battles fought around this city 
from December, 1862, to May, 1864, about one hun- 
dred thousand men were said to have been killed, 
wounded and missing. 

The first of these terrible scenes began December 
13, 1862. Both armies were confident of their own 
ability and of the insufficiency of the enemy. Gen- 
eral Burnside succeeded General McClellan in com- 
mand of the army of the Potomac, November 10, 
1862. With desperate eagerness he moved his army 
of a hundred and twenty thousand men over the Rap- 



432 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

pahannock, on four pontoon bridges, fighting as they 
went. Eighty thousand men, under Lee, Jackson and 
Longstreet, were on the heights with artillery, pre- 
pared to sweep the plain when it should be filled with 
that army of a hundred and twenty thousand souls. 
General E. P. Alexander, the Confederate engineer 
and superintendent of artillery, said to Longstreet : 
" General, we cover that ground now so well that we 
will comb it as with a fine-tooth comb. A chicken 
could not live on the plain when we open fire 
upon it." 

General McClellan's lack of success in gaining 
victory for the Federals had caused the authorities to 
become impatient, and General Burnside, in his zeal 
to win a victory, was wholly unprepared for the trap 
so successfully laid for him by the Confederates, and 
when their batteries did open fire upon his army it 
was indeed mown down. An English correspon- 
dent on the grounds wrote to the London " Times " 
as follows : 

A TERRIBLE AND SUBLIME SCENE. 

" Such a scene, at once terrible and sublime, mortal 
eye never rested on before, unless the bombardment 
of Sebastopol by the combined batteries of France 
and England revealed a more fearful manifestation 
of the hate and fury of men. 

" The thundering, bellowing roar of hundreds of 
pieces of artillery ! the bright jets of issuing flame ! 
the screaming, whistling, shrieking projectiles ! the 
wreaths of smoke as shell after shell burst in the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 433 

still air! the savage crash of round shot among the 
trees of the shattered forest ! — all formed a scene 
likely to sink forever into the minds of all who wit- 
nessed it, but utterly defying verbal delineation. 

" A direct and enfilading fire swept each battery on 
either side as it unmasked. Volley replied to volley, 
crash succeeded crash, until the eye lost all power of 
distinguishing the lines of combatants, and the plain 
seemed like a lake of fire, — a seething, molten lake 
of lava, coursed over by incarnate fiends, drunk with 
fury and revenge." 

The Richmond " Enquirer " said the next day : 
" The Yankees commenced stormino; the hill at 
half past eleven, and were repulsed four times with 
immense slaughter. They were mowed down by hun- 
dreds. Two hundred and fifty bodies were counted 
in a space occupied by only one regiment." 

General Longstreet, one of the Confederate com- 
manders, says : " Five times the Union troops formed 
and charged, and were repulsed. A sixth time they 
charged and were driven back, and then night came 
to end the dreadful carnage, and the Federals with- 
drew, leaving the battlefield literally heaped with 
their dead. Before the well-directed fire of Cobb's 
brigade, the Federals had fallen like the steady drip- 
ping of rain from the eaves of the house. Our mus- 
ketry alone killed and wounded at least five thousand, 
and these, with the slaughter of the artillery, left 
more than seven thousand killed and wounded before 
the foot of St. Mary's Heights. 



434 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

" The dead were piled sometimes three deep, and 
when the morning broke, the spectacle that we saw on 
the battlefield was one of the most distressing that I 
ever witnessed. The charges had been desperate 
and bloody, but utterly hopeless. I thought as I saw 
the Federals come again and again to their death that 
they deserved success, if courage and daring could 
entitle a soldier to victory." 

Of the gallant Irish brigade of twelve hundred 
men, whom, each with his sprig of shamrock. General 
Meagher had led into the valley of death on that 
bloody thirteenth, only two hundred and sixty re- 
ported for duty the next morning. These still wear- 
ing the shamrock in their hats, battered and begrimed 
with the terrible work of the day before, and mourn- 
ing the loss of their comrades, gathered around the 
flag of green and gold, ready to renew the work of 
slaughter and sacrifice the remnant of their famous 
brigade at their commander's word. 

Of Hooker's four thousand men who assaulted the 
enemy, trying to gain a stone wall, 1760 were left 
on the field. The killed, wounded and missing in 
this terrible effort to gain St. Mary's Heights were 
12,973 on the Union side and 4576 on the Confed- 
erate side. 

Defeated and utterly discouraged, the Union army 
recrossed the Rappahannock and went into winter 
quarters in close proximity to the enemy, still shel- 
tered behind their entrenchments. The army was 
disheartened not only because of its own defeat, but 
because of the general discouraging outlook for the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 435 

Federal forces. At Stone River, ten thousand more 
of the brave defenders of the Union had been sacri- 
ficed in the vain attempt to gain a victory, for a vic- 
tory it could hardly be called. Sherman's troops 
before Vicksburg had also been obliged to withdraw, 
leaving two thousand five hundred more soldiers 
slain. 

Recruits for the thinned ranks of the Army of the 
Potomac were called for, and on May first, 1863, 
125,000 men now forming this army, with a new com- 
mander whose reputation had gained for him the name 
of " Fighting Joe Hooker," again entered upon the 
conflict. The battle of Chancellorsville was fousfht 
and 1630 more of the Northern soldiers were killed, 
wounded and missing, with nearly as many on the 
Southern side. After three days hard fighting, see- 
ing the hopelessness of the undertaking, utterly dis- 
couraged and humiliated, he ordered a retreat, and in 
the darkness of the night the army of the Potomac 
recrossed the Rappahannock, leaving twenty thousand 
stand of arms and fourteen pieces of artillery on the 
field to enrich the enemy. 

These continued reverses so distressed Abraham 
Lincoln that when word was brought him of this de- 
feat he seemed almost to despair. 

In June, 1863, Hooker asked to be released of his 
command, and General Meade succeeded him. Then 
followed the Gettysburg campaign, with the loss of 
23,316 men on the Northern side and 36,000 South- 
erners, after which Meade and Lee occupied about the 
same positions as before, not far from Chancellors- 



436 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

ville. It was then that Meade planned the battle of 
Mine Run. So desperate was the undertaking that 
his men did not expect to survive the battle ; but they 
were soldiers. 

" Theirs not to make reply ; 
Theirs but to do and die." 

As they were disposed for the night in such a way as 
to be ready for instant action when daylight should 
come, they at once began writing farewell messages to 
their friends, and their names on slips of paper, which 
they pinned to their blouses, that there might be no 
need to write upon their grave-stones the single word, 
" Unknown." 

The engagement began on the twenty-first of No- 
vember, 1863, but such was the prospect of the utter 
annihilation of the Northern forces that the corps 
commanders thought that criticism was better than 
destruction, and they refused to take their troops into 
action. After some skirmishing, in which about five 
hundred were lost on each side, they withdrew and 
entered into winter quarters. For a time there was a 
hush of the sound of battle, but it was the calm that 
preceded a storm even yet more fearful and destruc- 
tive. 

Grant started south and his army took up the cry, 
" On to Richmond ; " but many a bloody field must 
be crossed ere they reached the Confederate capital. 
Lee, with his bold Southern boys, ready to die at the 
word of their loved general, was still occupying the 
ground around Mine Run and Chancellorsville. Here, 
where the army of the Potomac had stared death in 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 437 

the face less than six months before, and about a year 
before the waters of Mine Run had been crimsoned 
with the blood of those who had died at the battle of 
Chancellorsville, Grant met Lee in the deadly battle 
of the Wilderness. 

This locality was not an ordinary forest of tall pines 
or gigantic oaks. These had long since been removed 
for timber by those engaged in mining in this vicinity, 
and there had grown up a dense undergrowth of low- 
limbed pines, stiff chinquapins, scrub-oak and hazel. 
The ground was rocky and uneven, so that friends 
and foes were invisible to one another, except the few 
who were close together. Here lurked two hundred 
thousand men, about half of them dressed in blue and 
half in gray. No ordinary line of battle could be 
formed, and there was no chance for the display of 
generalship as in the open field. No general could 
see his men ten files away. Artillery was useless, and 
the three hundred immense guns of the Northern 
troops were silent except for the few shots made by 
the roadside. No cavalry could enter the Wilderness, 
and they were ruled out of the conflict. It was a 
deadly hand-to-hand fight between the sons of America. 

Something horrible indeed there is to contemplate 
in this battle of the Wilderness, as men sent their 
missiles of death to each other and brought misery 
and woe to the families represented. Maddened by 
the intoxicating work at hand and reckless of their 
own or others' lives, they fought, the officers only 
knowing of the loss or advantage to either side by the 
Yankee cheer or the Southern yell, which could at 



438 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

times be heard from the unseen men, following the 
sharp crack of musketry. 

Here eighteen thousand men wearing the blue and 
twelve thousand clad in gray were slain, and no vic- 
tory was gained by either side. It was generally con- 
ceded to be a drawn battle. Fearful in its intensity, 
horrible in its effect, was the battle of the Wilder- 
ness. 

The following remarkable story has been told the 
writer for truth, and has been used by some whose 
care in such matters warrants us in giving it cre- 
dence : 

The night before entering this battle, several men 
were assembled, reading their Bibles. The believers 
in God's promises were endeavoring to encourage one 
another to put their trust in Him. On reading the 
ninety-first psalm, particular attention was called to 
the seventh verse, " A thousand shall fall at thy side 
and ten thousand at thy right hand ; but it shall not 
come nigh thee." This verse they were encouraged 
each to claim as the promise of God to him, and 
finally the open Bible was placed on a rock, and 
those who would claim the promise were asked as an 
evidence of their faith in God's protection to pass 
by and place their fingers on that verse. Seventy 
men were said to have solemnly placed their fingers 
on the seventh verse of the ninety-first psalm. After 
the battle was over and the regiment, which had en- 
tered the battle with a thousand men, was assembled 
for roll-call, only one hundred were able to answer 
" Here," and of this hundred, seventy were the men 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 439 

who had placed their fingers upon the promise of God 
and definitely claimed his protection from the hidden 
enemy In that terrible thicket. 

Grant had started South, and, not discouraged by 
the result of the fight, had kept on toward Spottsyl- 
vania, fighting all the way. For twelve days Lee 
contested every attempt he made to advance, and forty 
thousand more of the Union forces were slain between 
the battle of the Wilderness and the battle of Spott- 
sylvanla, where the broken and wearied forces met in 
what has been called by many " the deadliest and 
fiercest conflict of the war." 

Foot to foot, hand to hand, the Union forces en- 
deavored to overpower the Southern men and capture 
the place ; sometimes standing on the bodies of their 
slain comrades three or four deep, they fought what 
is known as " The Bloody Angle at Spottsylvania." 
They finally planted the United States flag within the 
enemy's breastworks, where they managed to hold 
their position in spite of Lee's desperate efforts to dis- 
lodge them. 

But Spottsylvania itself was not yet captured. 
Leaving about nine thousand of Lee's troops among 
the slain, and about twelve thousand of his own men 
unable to answer to the bugle call and march on to 
Richmond, General Grant, with a vast army still left, 
moved south, and for the first time In two years the 
little city of Fredericksburg could rest from the noise 
and expectation of battle. 

The battle of Cold Harbor was remarkable for Its 
great loss of life in a very short time. Some say ten 



440 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

minutes, and none claim more than twenty as the 
length o£ time that the battle lasted ; and yet the 
Northern troops were obliged to withdraw from the 
attack, and in that brief space of time they lost 15,000 
men. 

Meade did not approve of a renewal of the attack, 
yet he finally consented to issue the orders given him, 
and the word was passed from officers to men. The 
time came for the contemplated onslaught, but not a 
man obeyed the order. This is perhajDS the only in- 
stance in the annals of warfare where the intelligence 
of the rank and file of the soldiery rose above the 
judgment of their superiors, and an emphatic though 
silent " No " was given to the requirements of officers 
whom they were accustomed to obey. The bitter ex- 
perience of the morning taught them that it was a 
useless butchery of men to assail the stronghold of the 
enemy, and they refused to make the required sacri- 
fice of life. 

The curse of George Whitefield had been fulfilled ; 
the streets of Fredericksburg had indeed run red with 
blood. She had suffered as only a city can suffer 
with contending armies seeking to drive each other 
from her borders. 

Shall we draw the curtain here and veil from our 
sight the terrible scenes of which we have caught only 
a glimpse ? The days of peace have come. No more 
is " the battle of the warrior with confused noise 
and garments rolled in blood " known in our land. 
America's sons are once more united under the flag 
of our fathers and we are brethren. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 441 

Better, far better, is now the condition of that little 
city on the banks of the Rappahannock, cursed though 
it may have been by the Lord's servant, and by the 
hand of war. 

The little plain stretching out before the city hav- 
ing drunk the blood of so many, and the city at its 
head having been cursed by God's servant, remind us 
of Israel, once a great nation, and of the plains of 
Esdraelon or Jezreel, in the land of Palestine, over- 
looked by the mountains of Gilboa and washed by the 
river Kishon, between Jordan and the Mediterranean, 
— once a flourishing region. Esdraelon had drunk 
the blood of so manj'- of God's people that Gibbon 
said of this once fair field : " When the last trump 
shall sound, more bodies will answer the summons 
from Esdraelon than from any other spot of the same 
size on the inhabited globe." Of the valley of Jezreel 
the Lord said (Hosea i. 4-6) : " For yet a little 
while arid I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the 
house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of 
the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that 
day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley 
of Jezreel. I will no more have mercy upon the house 
of Israel ; but I will utterly take them away." For 
the crimes and for the bloody battles fought there, and 
for grief at the death of Saul and Jonathan, King 
David wept and mourned that the beauty of Israel 
was slain. In his sorrow and grief, stretching his 
hands toward the mountains overlooking the plain, he 
said : " Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, 
neither let there be any rain upon you, neither fields 



442 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

of offering." Abundantly though the fields did yield, 
yet since that day only thistles nod in the breezes, and 
no hand tills the unproductive soil. 

The curse of God is plainly seen, not only upon this 
fair land, but upon that people who rejected God's 
commands and would not have the Prince of Peace to 
reign over them. May it be removed from the plain 
of Esdraelon and the mountains of Gilboa as well as 
from the fair city of the Southland, if upon them it 
still be ; and may the day be hastened when God's 
chosen Israel, " the lost nation," and all the nations of 
the earth may learn righteousness, and the terrible 
blight and curse of war never more be known. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

As thine early children, Lord, 

Shared their wealth and daily bread, 
Even so, with one accord, 

We, in love, each other fed. 
Not with us the miser's hoard ; 

Not with us his grasping hand ; 
Equal round a common board, 

Drew our meek and brother band. 

Whittieb. 

In giving some account of the work of the Balti- 
more Association, which was organized for a specific 
purpose, did its work thoroughly and grandly, and 
dissolved when that work was accomplished, with the 
universal testimony, " well done," it is quite fitting 
that we should make special mention of him who so 
clearly saw the need of such an organization, con- 
ceived the plan, and whose liberal contributions to its 
funds and continued service made possible the accom- 
plishment of its work. 

Francis Thompson King was born in Baltimore, 
Second month 25th, 1819. He was carefully trained 
and educated in the Society of Friends, and early 
became convinced of the sin of slavery and of war. 
He devoted his first hundred dollars toward the pur- 
chase of a slave boy in whom he had become inter- 



444 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

estecl, and set him free. He was often instrumental 
in the purchase and freeing of slaves. 

Under the preaching of John Hersey, a Methodist, 
he was awakened to a sense of his spiritual need. 
Soon after this Joseph John Gurney, from England, 
a minister among the Friends, visited this country 
in religious service. He sto^^ped at Joseph King's 
house, and his son, Francis T. King, became an 
avowed Christian in 1838. Under the influence and 
teaching of this man of God, he definitely accepted 
Jesus Christ as his Saviour, and received pardon for 
his sins, through faith in His atoning blood. He 
fully accej)ted the doctrines of the Gospel, as held by 
the Friends, and ever remained loyal to the interests 
of the Baltimore Yearly Meeting, with which he was 
actively connected. 

From 1840 to 1856 he was an active and successful 
business man, and his business was conducted strictly 
in accordance with his Christian principles. On one 
occasion he received a large order for goods. As they 
were about to be shipped he ascertained that they 
were to be used for military purposes. He immedi- 
ately refused to allow the order to be filled, saying 
that no goods of his should be used for the promotion 
of war. 

Having obtained the amount he had previously 
fixed upon as needful for his support, he retired from 
active business life, that he might give himself more 
directly to the Lord's work ; not as a minister, though 
he often addressed the people in the name of his 
Saviour, but in the various lines of church work so 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 445 

much needing consecrated intellect and business tal- 
ent. He was a philantkropist of broad views, tak- 
ing into consideration every subject claiming liis 
interest and assistance, and devoting such time and 
means to it as his generous heart and wise head might 
deem prudent. 

Baltimore was always his home, and what con- 
cerned his native city interested him. He accepted 
positions of trust in connection with her public works 
and charitable institutions, as well as many concerns 
of public interest outside the State. Such was the 
influence exerted by him among the leading citizens 
of Baltimore, that by his wise counsel he was able 
to do much toward influencing the city authorities 
to maintain their position of loyalty to the United 
States. 

In Fourth month, 1861, when the Pennsylvania 
troops were approaching Baltimore on their way to 
"Washington, the Southern sympathizers were deter- 
mined that they should not pass through the city. 
Two days before a Massachusetts regiment had been 
attacked while marching through the city from one 
depot to another, and men on both sides were killed, 
— the first lives lost in the war. The railroad 
bridges north and east of the city were burned to pre- 
vent the transportation of troops to Washington, and 
all the ports were closed. Everywhere the fife and 
drum were heard, recruiting men. Squads were drill- 
ing, and cannon and supplies were being hauled 
through the streets. Baltimore was a great military 
camp. 



446 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Five thousand troops from Pennsylvania were 
nearing the city. It was Sabbath morning, and the 
church bells rang out as usual ; but soon the alarm 
bells were heard, and preparations were made to pre- 
vent the passage of these troops ; but the cavalry and 
infantry moved on. The Friends' meeting-house was 
near the city hall. About meeting time the Friends 
gathered in the yard, as was their wont, though the 
excitement in the vicinity was very great, some anx- 
iously querying what to do ; for many had not heard 
of the approach of troops before their coming to 
meeting and of the possible repetition of the scenes 
of two days before. To add to the trial of their faith 
and patience, word came to several that their horses 
had been taken by the militia. 

As the hour drew near at which they usually 
gathered within the house, the voice of one of their 
elders was heard saying : " Friends, I think the best 
place for us is to quietly gather into the meeting- 
house and wait as usual upon the Lord." In a few 
moments, without a questioning word, the congrega- 
tion was seated, " under the shadow of His wing." It 
was the only congregation of worshipers in the city 
of Baltimore on this exciting day. 

Many of the city officials sympathized with the 
South, while the few Union men, surprised and over- 
awed by the actions of their officials, made no opposi- 
tion until the ballot box revealed the fact that a good 
portion of the citizenship was loyal to the Union. 
Francis T. King called upon the city authorities, and 
was most kindly received and readily granted an au- 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 447 

dience. He told them that he had just returned from 
the North, and explained to them the situation, — how 
the North was much better prepared to carry on a war 
than the South, and that it would be useless to op- 
pose her. Communication by wire or mail had been 
cut off. Great efforts were being made to induce 
Maryland to join the Confederacy, and her officials 
were much perplexed. 

After faithfully presenting his views to the city 
fathers, Francis T. King then went to see the gover- 
nor, who received him cordially in his room, though 
the hour was now midnight. He gave him a full ac- 
count of what he had seen in the North, and an idea 
of the determination of all classes to prevent Mary- 
land, just in the rear of the nation's capital, from 
seceding. The governor listened with attention and 
apparent interest to all he had to say, asking many 
questions. Francis T. King says : " I was soon re- 
lieved to learn that he was loyal, and would defeat 
the efforts of the secessionists to put Maryland in a 
hostile position." The disloyal members of the legis- 
lature were soon after arrested by the United States 
authorities, and a loyal legislature elected. Governor 
Hicks was retained, and remained true to the great 
responsibilities of his situation during the war. 

Francis King's greatest interest was in the Society 
of Friends, and however much he might be pressed 
with public and other business, his church and its 
work claimed the foremost place. As we have 
already learned, he frequently visited Washington, 
and had free access to the government officials to 



448 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

present the needs of any of his suffering brethren. 
He was active in the pressing of Friends' claims for 
exemption from military duty, and was of great assist- 
ance in securing the favorable exemption laws granted 
by the United States government. 

During the war, when thousands of Southern sol- 
diers were imprisoned at Point Lookout, at the 
mouth of the Potomac, some of them thought they 
should be liberally furnished with whatever they might 
wish, and made earnest appeals to the Southern sym- 
pathizers in Baltimore and elsewhere for money, pre- 
tending that they needed it to buy food, clothing, 
blankets and other needfid thino^s. The foUowiue: is 
an account given by F. T. King concerning the sub- 
ject, and gives a good idea of the care of prisoners 
by the Federal government : 

POINT LOOKOUT. 

"In the cold winter of 1863, when so much 
suffering from the weather was experienced by the 
prisoners of war, a leading merchant of Baltimore, 
a well-known sympathizer with the South, called upon 
me and said that he and his friends were constantly 
receiving letters from Confederate prisoners at Point 
Lookout, at the mouth of the Potomac, complaining 
of not being protected from the severity of the 
weather, and that they were suffering intensely for 
want of blankets, shoes, underclothing, etc. ' We 
have piles of such letters,' he said, ' and we are pre- 
pared to put into your hands 120,000 as a gift to 
you, for which you will be accountable to no one, 




FRANCIS T. K.IN(i 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 449 

believing that we can rely uj)on you to relieve the 
prisoners at Point Lookout.' I replied that I hardly 
thought their condition could be so bad, and that I 
saw no way by which I could serve him unless I went 
to the Secretary of War myself and received au- 
thority to disburse this money. He replied that I 
might take any course I thought best, but he and his 
friends did not wish to be known in the matter ; they 
did not think it safe that they should be. 

"I went to Washington at once and told Secretary 
Stanton the whole story. Striking his hand upon the 
table he said : ' God forbid that I should ever resort 
to such retaliatory measures,' and taking a card he 
wrote out a commission for me to visit the prison and 
report to him. At my request he included the name 
of James Carey. 

" We started next day upon our mission, spent the 
first night at Alexandria, Va., and took a govern- 
ment boat the following morning down the Potomac. 
Quite a number of Confederate earthworks frowned 
upon us from the south bank. It was long after dark 
when we reached the prison city, and we could not get 
a place to sleep within the enclosure ; so we had to 
take what rest we could outside the pickets in a very 
rude and unclean house, — a rest much disturbed by 
rats ; a large one fell from the rafter overhead directly 
upon us. 

" Early the next morning we called upon the com- 
mander with our credentials. He received us kindly, 
wallted with us to the gate of the immense enclosure, 
and introduced us to a number of the principal Con- 



450 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

federate officers, and requested them to show us all 
over the grounds, allow us to inspect the food and the 
clothing, and to answer fully every question we put 
to them relative to their condition and wants. We 
spent the day in making a very careful inquiry, and 
found the state of things altogether different from 
what we had been led to expect. The prisoners hav- 
ing little to do, some of them spent much of their 
time in gambling, and having obtained the names 
of leading Baltimoreans, who sympathized with the 
South, they had been drawing upon their liberal- 
ity to furnish the means with which to gamble and 
to purchase, clandestinely, prohibited articles. Our 
commission gave us the power to order clothing, 
blankets and whatever was needed ; but the extent of 
our demand upon the quartermaster did not amount 
to a sujjply for more than thirty or forty of the 
11,000 prisoners. The Confederate officers were 
very much provoked at the course of those who had 
imposed on the kindness of their friends in Balti- 
more. 

" We were exceedingly interested in this ' prison 
city,' as it might be called. It was regularly laid out 
in streets, fronting the bay, and everything was kept 
neat and clean. The ingenuity of the men was shown 
in the nice tents and cabins they had built, some of 
them lined inside very neatly with simple materials, 
such as cracker boxes, etc. 

" We made our report to the Secretary of War, 
and also to our friends in Baltimore, much to their 
relief." 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 451 

When the war was over, the situation of tlie freed- 
men of the South was one of great interest to Francis 
T. King, and he worked diligently for the improve- 
ment of their condition. The Indian work also 
claimed much of his attention: but amid it all he 
kept up his interest in the North Carolina Friends. 
Just before and during the war he had watched their 
faithful adherence to the principles of peace during 
the most trying circumstances. He had seen the lia- 
bility of the abandonment of the country by those 
bearing the name of Friends, and he set himself to 
check the tide of emigration. Many companies passed 
through the city on the way to their friends in the 
West, who welcomed them to their homes, destitute 
as many of them were. Upon their arrival in Balti- 
more, Francis T. King often met them and gathered 
what information he could concerning the condition of 
the Friends they had left behind. 

He found tliat great indeed were the sufferings and 
privations caused by the war, which had left them 
but little with which to begin life anew. Taking all 
this into account, he conceived the idea of helpino- 
them to start again on the old homesteads, and begin 
the work at once of "rebuilding the waste places." 
So he called a few of his friends and kindred spirits 
around him, and told them of the great need of prompt 
action for the relief and encouragement of their 
brethren who had suffered for their principles during 
the dark days of the war. It was agreed to form an 
association to be called " The Baltimore Association 
of Friends, to advise and assist Friends in the South- 



452 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

ern States." Francis T. King was appointed Presi- 
dent ; Isaac Brooks, Secretary ; Jesse Tyson, Treas- 
urer; and tliere was a board of twenty managers. 
The following executive committee was appointed : 
Francis T. King, Chairman ; John C. Thomas, Sec- 
retary ; Francis White, James C. Thomas, M. D., 
Jesse Tyson, and Caleb Winslow, M. D. A liberal 
amount of money was subscribed by Friends in Bal- 
timore, and Francis T. King was appointed to visit 
every yearly meeting of Friends in America, to ex- 
plain to them the situation and solicit funds for the 
aid of these their brethren. 

We have seen how promptly their messengers, 
Sarah Smiley and Richard M. Janney, were on the 
grounds. Even while Sherman occupied Goldsboro, 
they arrived at Jesse Hollowell's house, bringing 
good cheer and bodily comforts. They were the first 
to cross Mason and Dixon's line, as the bearers of 
brotherly love and substantial aid to the destitute, 
suffering people. The capture of Goldsboro by Sher- 
man opened the door for them to these fields, and they 
promptly entered. 

The Association shipped to them carloads of pro- 
visions, boxes of goods of all descriptions, tools for 
the working of the land and articles for housekeep- 
ing. Sewing-needles, thread, scissors and buttons 
were not forgotten, and how glad the housewives 
were to receive them. Thirty years afterward, one of 
them told the writer with much pleasure how Sarah 
Smiley gave her thread, needles and pins, which she 
so much needed, having long since shared hers with a 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 453 

secession neighbor. The first care was to relieve the 
pressing demand for food, and provisions were dis- 
tributed gratuitously, especially to Friends, but any 
pressing need was not turned away from. The call 
was indeed great, and most nobly did Francis T. 
King and his associates meet the emergency. 

The following letter from Francis T. King to John 
B. Crenshaw may have a fitting place here : 

" My Dear Friend, John B. Crenshaw : " We 
are sadly pained to hear of the sufferings of our 
North Carolina brethren, from having the armies upon 
them. 

" I have been engaged in sending, through a permit 
from the Secretary of War, three thousand dollars' 
worth of flour, bacon, etc., to Contentnea Quarter 
(Goldsboro) and shall have probably twelve to fif- 
teen thousand dollars to apply in the same way to the 
Western Quarter, near Greensboro. 

" There is a great risk in sending provisions so far 
inland, and I feel best satisfied to visit these dear 
friends and organize a regular system for distribution, 
— also to see their meeting for sufferings assembled, 
to lay several matters before them, in regard to First- 
day schools and those on week days, — to supply them 
liberally with books, etc. 

" I shall wait until our dear friend R. M. Janney 
returns and reports. He went from here to Golds- 
boro, then to Greensboro and Richmond. I shall 
know better how to act when he advises me. 

" Now my dear friend, I want thee to go with me. 



454 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

I want thy advice and judgment. I can raise 120,000 
for our friends if necessary. 

" There are great questions to be considered, emi- 
gration, etc. We have hundreds passing through 
here to the West. I feel like advising them to remain 
at home, and not leave their land just now, if at all. 
We can help them better there. 

" I will get full power from our Secretary of War, 
for us both. My love to you all, 

Affectionately thy friend, 

F. T. King." 

The war for the Union did not divide Friends 
North and South, as it did the other churches. It was 
to many of the Southern people not only an unlooked- 
for thing, but a surprising and impressive spectacle, 
that from the States which had wasted the South 
should come the most practical manifestation of love 
and sympathy. Whilst Friends came to the relief of 
those in Christian fellowship with themselves, it was 
on account of their anti-war principles comparatively 
easy for them to convince the peo])le who had been 
overrun by armies that they sought the good of all. 
Hating none, their presence from abroad was seldom 
regarded with suspicion, so that the gospel of peace 
and reconciliation was from their tongues a welcome 
message. 

Mention has been made in a previous chapter of the 
heavy losses to Friends by the invading armies, and 
of the purpose of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, with 
others, to send them relief as speedily as practicable. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 455 

Many of the Friends in Nortli Carolina and Ten- 
nessee were in limited circumstances before the war. 
Those who were comparatively wealthy shared the 
common fate of being- made poor by the war. It 
became apparent to the Baltimore Association of 
Friends, that while there were many genuine cases of 
suffering to be relieved, it would be impossible, im- 
practicable and unwise to attempt, as some might de- 
sire, to replace all losses pro rata with anything of an 
even hand. They came to the far wiser conclusion to 
bestow the trust, mainly in a way to bring forth fruit 
that should abide, by helping them, first to educate 
their children, and secondly to improve their lands. 

How was this educational work to be accomplished ? 
Francis T. King, whose heart and head and hand were 
in every kind of Christian enterprise, had been chiefly 
instrumental in securing the fund from its various 
sources. He attended North Carolina Yearly Meet- 
ing at New Garden, in Guilford County, in the fall of 
18G5. 

This it will be remembered was a few months after 
the surrender of Johnston's army at Raleigh. He 
there made known the purpose for which such funds 
as they had were to be used, and, with the aid of 
others, labored to encourage Friends to stay by their 
homes and the State of North Carolina, and educate 
their children. In this way they could restore the 
waste places and continue a blessing to the land in 
which a guiding Hand had planted them in the early 
settling of the colonies. He told them to go home 
from that yearly meeting and start in their various 



45G SOUTHERN HEROES. 

neighborhoods such schools as they could, with such 
facilities as they had, and that a superintendent of 
education would be sent into the field as soon as they 
could find one, who woidd advise, assist, help reor- 
ganize, if need be, and pay the teachers. The result 
was that many schools were started, a few of which 
deserved the name, while many could not so much as 
be called apologies for schools. Let it be noted that 
North Carolina's public-school system previous to the 
war had been very inefficient, that the war had sunk 
the last dollar of her educational funds, and that now 
for years there had been but few schools in the State 
and almost none for the people at large. The school- 
houses were few and far between, and many of the 
schools which had opened were in cast-off cabins or 
old store-houses at cross-roads ; but the desire to learn 
and the sore need in those days of the little money 
which was promised the teachers caused them to 
spring up. 

But who was to take the field from Albemarle 
Sound to the mountains, and over in Tennesseei and 
in a corner of Virginia ; inspect the needs, inspire the 
cooperation of the people, build the houses, select and 
employ the teachers, import books and ajjparatus and 
oversee the work? The Baltimore Association sent 
out a call. How many responded we do not know. 
A few weeks before the call, however, Joseph Moore, 
a professor in Earlham College, Kiclmiond, Indiana, 
a graduate of Harvard University, and a practical 
educator of more than a dozen years' experience, was 
suddenly compelled by broken health to quit his post. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 457 

Tlii'ougli the persuasion of some of his friends at home 
and in Baltimore, he was induced to accept the posi- 
tion, with little hope on his part that he would be at 
all equal to the privations and exposures of such a 
work. 

He had for a few weeks the company of that faith- 
ful, efficient and courageous Friend, John Scott, a 
minister of Baltimore. They proceeded by way of 
Washington and Kichmond, and thence over the war- 
crippled Richmond and Danville Railroad, through a 
region impoverished and desolate, and reached Greens- 
boro, N. C, on Christmas Eve, 1865. 

John Scott had, years before, been over much of the 
field to be canvassed, so that he was j^repared to lead 
the way as to the first routes to be pursued. The 
field lay, as to Carolina, mainly in the counties of 
Guilford, Randolph, Alamance, Chatham, Davidson, 
Yadkin, Iredell, Wayne, Johnson, Northampton and 
Perquimans. To these are to be added a few counties 
in Virginia and East Tennessee. 

If one would learn how cruel and merciless war is, 
and in what a crippled state it leaves a people, let him 
follow in the wake of armies that live off the country 
and often destroy what they do not consume. There 
was not only a dearth of food and of all that makes 
for outward prosperity, not only a dearth of schools, 
but in this case a great dearth of the Gospel, " a fam- 
ine of hearing the words of the Lord." 

In consequence of this, these brethren, engaged in 
educational work, were constantly constrained, from 
within and without, to preach to all classes and colors. 



458 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

Crowds with eager ears and hungry souls would gather 
almost daily to hear the simjole Gospel words of hope 
and cheer. As for means of travel and home accom- 
modations, the people were always ready with the best 
they had. But, notwithstanding all the kindness 
shown, travelling through the forests and over the 
mountains was not a luxury, since " the highways lay 
waste and the wayfaring man had (well nigh) ceased." 
But the army-abandoned mule or horse or cart or am- 
bulance, or something better, was nearly always at 
hand. If the soldiers in the contending armies could 
go through their greater privations, should not mes- 
sengers of peace and healing and reconstruction labor 
and rejoice in the face of every obstacle? 

Joseph Moore, whose health was gaining from week 
to week, had from the first been taking an inventoiy, 
in all the neighborhoods of Friends, of the educational 
needs and appliances ; — how many children, what 
schoolhouses, if any, what material for teachers, how 
much were the people able to do, what was the con- 
dition of the schools already in operation. 

It became apparent to the superintendent long be- 
fore the first circuit of the field was completed that 
the schools, with a very few exceptions, must be 
entirely reconstructed, and put on such a basis as would 
enable them to do thorough, systematic work. 

Plenty of teachers from the North were to be had, 
but it was preferred to spend the funds mainly on 
home talent, thus letting the money remain in the 
South ; and what was more important, — to give the 
young people of Carolina the opportunity to prove 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 459 

their capacity. Consequently the schools in operation 
were terminated at an early day, and a call was made 
for a normal school, with the understanding that 
teachers, in the future, would be chosen from such 
attendants as showed promise of ability and skill. 

The Friends' centi-al school at New Garden had 
been a high-grade school for a quarter of a century. 
It continued in a flourishins,' condition throuahout the 
war. Many of its teachers had been men and women 
of sound scholarship, so that scattered through the 
territory occupied by Friends were quite a number 
possessed of sufficient scholarship to teach. A know- 
ledge of methods, the art of conducting a school, and 
an enthusiasm for public education and the advance- 
ment of the literary standard were most needed. 

The normal school was in these respects a success 
beyond anticipation. After this first school in 1866, 
the normal was continued each summer for a dozen 
years or more, and did much in preparing the way for 
the founding of the State Normal School. 

The normal school and the work in general elicited 
the attention and cooperation of many leading men 
of the State of North Carolina. Governor Worth, 
Judge Robert P. Dick, President Craven of Trinity 
College, Judge Jackson, Dr. Nereus Mendenhall, 
General Leach and a number of others addressed the 
teachers on various occasions. Governor Worth, at- 
tending the closing public exercises of one of the 
normal schools, on visiting the " Model Farm," and 
noting the general interest which was being created in 
agriculture and improved schools, said : " This work 



460 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

of the Friends is quite the most important move in 
the way of reconstruction that has come to my know- 
ledge." 

During the first half of the year, the work of rejjair- 
ing old schoolhouses and building new ones was going 
forward to make ready for fall operations. Some- 
times the interest flagged where the work called for 
more sacrifice and outlay on the part of the people 
than they had anticipated. They did not always 
readily respond to calls for educational meetings. The 
superintendent procured a magic lantern with slides 
illustrating geography, zoology, elementary astronomy, 
etc; These were carted over the hills and valleys for 
hundreds of miles. The arrival of the " show-man," 
according to appointment, crowded the old meeting- 
houses, and as the exhibits were free, it was all made 
educational. Many a boy and girl, as well as many a 
parent, was heljjed to look up, not for the stars alone. 

The work went on, till houses and teachers were 
provided for all the Friends' children of North Caro- 
lina and Tennessee, and for all other white children 
in reach of them, without regard to denominational 
lines. At that time, on account of the Freedman's 
Bureau and other agencies, more attention was given, 
in many localities, to the education of colored children 
than to white. 

After three years of devoted service, a service in 
which he was delighted from the first, and in which 
he took an increasing interest from year to year. Pro- 
fessor Moore was called back to Indiana to take the 
presidency of Earlham College. Before he left the 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 461 

field, the Baltimore Association had procured the ser- 
\aces of Allen Jay, of Indiana, as superintendent of 
education. 

The work of the superintendent had from the first 
included all the attention he was able to give to the 
organization and improvement of Bible schools. This 
work had received careful attention for the first three 
years. Institutes and conferences were held for the 
special purpose of forwarding the work. The schools 
for more secular instruction being already in good 
working order and in the hands of progressive teach- 
ers, Allen Jay was able to give a larger share of 
attention to Bible schools and religious work in gen- 
eral. For this work he was admirably fitted. During 
his more than eight years of oversight and attention, 
the work continued to progress on all lines. 

It should be further remarked, briefly, that as 
times improved and local means for carrying on 
schools increased, it became a part of the work of 
Allen Jay as superintendent gradually to transfer the 
management from the Baltimore Association to the 
local patrons of the schools. The system, by degrees, 
became self-supporting, and Franklin S. Blair, a na- 
tive Friend, was installed as superintendent. 

Of the various gratifying incidents of this worthy 
enterprise, not the least was the influence which the 
work of these more than a hundred trained teachers 
with their thousands of pupils must have had in 
leavening the educational work of the State when the 
public school system of North Carolina was resumed. 
The united work of Northern and Southern Friends, 



462 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

immediately following tlie bloody strife, was as a wave 
of light following the dark storm-cloud of war. It 
was a practical and forcible example, though on a 
comparatively small scale, of the blessing that comes 
from the beating of swords into ploughshares and 
pens. It was no mean chapter in the restoration and 
reconstruction of the South. 

We think we can do no better than to give our 
readers quotations from the reports made to the meet- 
ings in Baltimore, and thereby they will get a more 
clear and full understanding of the great work that 
was done in the interest of the Southland, for not 
Friends alone were benefited by this practical mani- 
festation of brotherly love, nor were they alone in 
extending a helping hand. Others soon followed the 
example thus early set them, and the New South has 
been helped to her present advanced condition by the 
timely aid extended to her distressed citizens by those 
from whom she tried to secede. 

We find upon the minutes of the Baltimore Meeting 
for Sufferings the following report, dated 23d of 11th 
month, 1866 : 

"To THE Baltimore Association of Friends, 
to advise and assist Friends of the Southern States. 

" In making our first general report, it is proper that 
we should refer to the origin of our association. 
Soon after the breaking out of the war. Friends from 
North Carolina occasionally passed through Baltimore 
on their way to the West, but during the autumn of 
1864 such arrivals were so much more frequent and 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 463 

the families in most cases so much more destitute, 
that it was concluded to combine our individual efforts 
to aid them, and ' The Association of Friends, to 
advise and assist Friends in the Southern States ' was 
organized. 

" We have kept a regular account of our opera- 
tions, and have acted through committees, with all 
the care and system in our power ; but do not think 
it is required of us to make public the details of our 
aid to brethren under temporary and unexpected pri- 
vations, many of whom had formerly given freely to 
others. It is due, however, to the contributors of the 
fund that some report be made, if it be only as a 
record of the love, sympathy and interest which have 
bound us together as a people, when nearly every 
other tie between the North and the South was 
severed. 

" We had no expectation, at first, of anything but 
a local effort, but the interest which we felt was 
simultaneously manifested throughout all the yearly 
meetings, and we became the medium of dispensing 
their liberality also. 

" During the spring and summer of 1865, directly 
after Sherman's march, two of our members twice 
visited North Carolina, to distribute provisions, cloth- 
ing and money, and during that year we forwarded to 
the West about four hundred members, adults and 
children, fifty of whom arrived here destitute at one 
time. 

" Though we discouraged the emigration, we could 
not wonder at it, as they fled from the ravages of war 



464 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

to join relatives who had prospered in the West, and 
who gave them cordial welcomes. Some of these 
families, however, have been returned by us to their 
former homes, and they are now cultivating their 
farms with commendable energy. There was peculiar 
difficulty attending the journey of four hundred miles 
to Baltimore, and the conversion of their money into 
ours at a loss of several hundred per cent., generally 
landing them in our city destitute of funds and cloth- 
ing, and with eight hundred miles of travel still 
before them. Many of the young men, in escaping 
conscription, had to travel many miles, wade rivers 
and sleep in the woods. Several of them were fired 
at and wounded. 

" Whilst thus engaged in aiding our brethren and 
endeavoring to relieve their physical wants, we soon 
discovered that there were even stronger claims upon 
us to educate their children, many of whom, from the 
need of their labor at home, the scarcity of books and 
conscription of teachers, had lost four years of in- 
struction, the period of a country child's school life. 

" One of our members (F. T. King) visited North 
Carolina at the time of their yearly meeting in 
Eleventh month, 1865, and there met in consultation 
our friends Joseph Crossfield of England, Samuel 
Boyce of New England, and Marmaduke Cope of 
Philadelphia, and conferred with the educational 
committee of North Carolina Yearly Meeting. After 
carefully considering the subject, the Association 
concluded to appropriate Jf^SOOO to the boarding school 
(then called New Garden), $2500 to be expended in 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 465 

repairing the school building and refitting the fur- 
niture and school apparatus, and $2500 to pay the 
board and tuition at the school of the children of the 
Friends who had suffered most by the war, which has 
since been done. 

" Secondly, to establish primary schools in every 
Friends' neighborhood, under the direction of our 
Association, and to ajjpoint a competent superintend- 
ent, to devote his whole time to their supervision. 

(This New Garden Boarding School, established 
in 1836, was the only boarding school kept open dur- 
ing the war, and the only one in the South known to 
have been continued without financial disaster. The 
State funds for education were all sunk, and the 
interest in education generally was in a low con- 
dition.) 

" Professor Joseph Moore of Earlham College, 
Indiana, was secured as the superintendent, and with 
John Scott of Baltimore, in Twelfth month, 1865, 
proceeded to the field of service, first visiting the 
different meetings of Friends and conferring with 
them on the subject of education, supplying the tem- 
porary need of Friends, engaging teachers, etc. 

" Most of the meetings appointed committees to co- 
operate with them and do what they could in the 
erection of houses, and to forward the interests of the 
work. Ten new schoolhouses were built during the 
3^ear 1865, and all we could do has been done to 
assist Friends to recover from the effects of the war, 
and to establish a school system which will sustain 
itself. Our fvmd is ample to carry on the work, as 



466 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

now organized, for the next two years, employ a 
superintendent of schools for three years thereafter, 
and afford such physical relief as may be needed dur- 
ing the coming winter. 

" The subject of improved agriculture has claimed 
the attention of our board, and our president has 
been directed to confer with North Carolina Friends 
at the time of their yearly meeting next month, and 
submit to us a plan for accomplishing this very im- 
l^ortant work. Without it, it will be impossible to 
prevent the emigration of many young people whose 
energy and ambition have been stimulated. 

" Our superintendent of schools is directed to visit 
Friends' meetings in East Tennessee as early this 
autumn as his North Carolina engagements will per- 
mit of, with a view of bringing these schools under 
our aid and supervision. 

" We would particularly acknowledge the sym- 
pathy and interest of our brethren of London and 
Dublin Yearly Meetings, whose great liberality has 
enabled us to enlarge and prolong our labor. 

" In conclusion we would express our increasing 
interest and great confidence in the work, and our 
gratitude to our Heavenly Father for his blessing 
upon it. 

" On behalf of the board of managers, 

Fkancis T. King. 

" Baltimore, Tenth mouth 23d, 1866." 

The meeting for sufferings received reports from 
the committee through their chairman, Francis T. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 467 

King, which they took under consideration, and made 
their report to the yearly meeting, and thus, as an 
official statement, it was sent to other yearly meet- 
ings. On the recoi'ds of this meeting, under date of 
Third month 16th, 1868, we find the following report 
of our friend Francis T. King, who was appointed to 
present the memorial in behalf of North Carolina to 
the different yearly meetings on this continent : 

"To THE Meeting for Sufferings: 

" Dear Friends : "I was appointed to lay before 
the yearly meetings on this continent, as way might 
open, the minute prepared by direction of this meet- 
ing, on behalf of our dear Friends of North Carolina. 
T visited all the yearly meetings, except Canada and 
Iowa, and the latter was attended on our behalf by 
Allen Jay. Our appeal was most promptly and lib- 
erally responded to as follows : 

New England ^2,000 

New York 2,000 

Ohio 1,000 

Western 2,200 

Iowa 1,400 

Indiana 2,600 

Dublin 3,400 

Total )B14,600 

" The American yearly meetings will divide their 
payments between this year and next. London 
Yearly Meeting has also directed a subscription to be 
opened. 

" Friends manifest great interest in our work, and 



M 



468 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

expressed satisfaction with what had been done, and 
desired our encouragement. 

Francis T. King. 

"Baltimore, Md., Tenth month 16th, 1868." 

We find the following entered upon the minutes of 
a meeting held by the meeting for sufferings : 

" The committee on education in the South made 
the following report, which was satisfactory to the 
meeting, and the committee was continued to further 
labor, as may be required. John B. Crenshaw was 
added to the committee. They were authorized to 
memorialize Congress, if occasion should require. 
The report is as follows : 

" ' Our organization originated in an effort to 
extend physical relief, at the close of the war, to 
the members of our religious society at the South. 
Small in the beginning, and confined to this particu- 
lar object, the field of labor has since been greatly 
enlarged, until it now embraces not only physical 
relief, but, we believe, intellectual, moral and indus- 
trial development of every family of Friends in North 
Carolina and Tennessee. Nor are its benefits con- 
fined to the members of our own society ; but they 
extend in a widening circle to many others. 

'"Our last annual report gave a history of our 
association from its origin, and embraced its opera- 
tions down to Eleventh month 1st, 1866. The board 
now has the pleasure of reporting to the association 
its labors for another year, which, for the sake of 
clearness, we have arranged under different heads. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 469 

" ' Physical Relief. — Our disbursements, under 
this head, for the past year have been: 11841.73; 
amount previously expended, $12,936.40 ; total 
for physical relief, since our operations began, 
114,778.13. 

" ' For the jjast twelve months, aid has been chiefly 
confined to widows and aged persons, except for two 
months previous to harvest, when, in consideration of 
greater scarcity of provisions, our contributions were 
more general. In view of the great losses, hardships 
and discouragements in the necessary incidents of war, 
through which our brethren of the South have had to 
pass, and especially in view of the repeated failure 
of their crops since the war ended, it is but just to 
express our appreciation of the commendable spirit 
of effort and self-reliance which they have generally 
manifested. At no time have they shown a disposi- 
tion to lean heavily upon us, but rather accepted for 
themselves only such aid as necessity demanded. 
They have chosen to rely as far as possible upon 
their own exertions, thus enabling the board to extend 
its operations over a larger field. 

" ' Liberal shipments of Bibles and tracts have been 
made to North Carolina ; committees on Bible schools 
have been originated in every meeting of Friends, and 
sixteen schools for colored people are under their care. 

" ' Our president has visited nearly all the yearly 
meetings on this continent, the past year, and received 
liberal contributions to our work. London and Dub- 
lin Yearly Meetings have also opened subscriptions ; 
the latter has remitted five hundred pounds. Francis 



470 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

T. Kins' has also visited North Carolina four times 
since our last report. 

" ' Our North Carolina Friends continue to board 
the teachers and pay for books, leaving the salaries 
and incidentals to us, which average three hundred 
dollars per school, about twelve thousand dollars a 
year, to which is to be added the cost of the agricul- 
tural department. 

" ' With the good crops of this year and the spirit 
and interest manifested in the work by our North 
Carolina Friends, we propose to make the schools self- 
sustaining after the close of the scholastic year upon 
which we have just entered. We propose, however, 
to continue the agricultural department and the over- 
sight of the schools, including the pay of the superin- 
tendents, for several years to come. 

" ' We cannot close our report without expressing 
our regret in parting with our superintendent of edu- 
cation, Joseph Moore, who has filled his responsible 
and arduous position with so much ability and devo- 
tion. Our best wishes go with him to his new posi- 
tion as president of Earlham College, Indiana. 

" ' We have appointed our valued friend Allen Jay 
to take his place, and he will enter upon his duties in 
a few weeks. 

" ' On behalf of the committee, 

Francis T. King.' " 

Report of the executive committee of the " Balti- 
more Association of Friends to advise and assist 
Friends in the South : " 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 471 

" We herewith present the detailed reports of our 
treasurer and of our superintendents of education and 
agriculture. Both departments of our work have 
been conducted with efficiency, and the results are 
of the most gratifying character. We now sustain 
forty schools, numbering 2588 scholars. The normal 
school embraces forty teachers and fifty-six advanced 
scholars who design to follow teaching as a profession. 
They are collected together for two months during the 
summer vacation. 

" There has been a steady advance in the character 
of the schools, and in their influence upon the neigh- 
borhoods in which they are located. 

" Our superintendent of agriculture has been busy 
the past year in erecting the dwelling-house and barn, 
and in preparing the land for cultivation. He has, 
however, found time to establish farmers' clubs, and 
give a general stimulus to improved agriculture. 

" Education. — Soon after our efforts to afford aid 
to the physical needs of our members at the South, it 
became apparent to us that it was no less a necessitv 
to give relief to the educational destitution which 
everywhere prevailed as a consequence of protracted 
war. As soon, therefore, as we had afforded the phy- 
sical relief, we turned our attention to the establish- 
ment of a system of schools, extending throughout the 
settlements of Friends in North Carolina and Ten- 
nessee, and to a very limited extent in Virginia. 

" We commenced these labors near the close of 
1865, by assuming the charge of twelve indifferent 
schools, composed of about six hundred pupils. The 



472 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

number of these was gradually increased to forty 
schools, with 2558 pupils. The improvement in the 
character and efficiency of these schools has been 
exceedingly gratifying to us. All but four of the 
teachers are natives of North Carolina, who have had 
the benefit of two sessions at our normal school. 
They have filled their jjositions to the entire satisfac- 
tion of the board. 

" Normal School. — During two months of the sum- 
mer vacation, the teachers of our primary schools were 
collected near High Point, a central and healthy 
locality, for the purpose of undergoing a thorough 
practical training in improved methods of instruction 
and in school government. Besides our own teachers, 
others desirous of improvement were admitted into 
the class, which numbered one hundred and six dur- 
ing the past year. This large attendance is an evi- 
dence of the great interest which is felt in this school ; 
and this has been farther proven by the daily presence 
of large numbers of visitors from the surrounding 
country, many of them being leading men of influence 
in the State. We can hardly overestimate the bene- 
fits to the State at large of such a school at this junc- 
ture. 

(The Friends held the first normal school ever held 
in the State of North Carolina.) 

" The Boarding School. — This institution, estab- 
lished at New Garden, Guilford County, N. C, by 
North Carolina Yearly Meeting, in 1836, has received 
a new impidse from the successful operation of our 
primary schools. The standard of education requisite 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 473 

for a successful teacher in one of our schools, being 
higher than has heretofore been demanded of public- 
school teachers at the South, is causing many who 
wish to become teachers to desire to avail themselves 
of the advantages of the yearly meeting school. 

" This school has been self-sustaining for several 
years past. Although not under our care, but that of 
a yearly meeting committee, yet we have aided it 
during the past year to the extent of $1322. 73, by 
paying scholarships for the children of Friends in 
isolated situations where schools could not be main- 
tained, and in giving to others classical and scientific 
advantages to prepare them to teach the higher 
branches. We hoj)e to see the boarding school the 
centre of our system of education. 

" Agriculture. — The low and unremunerative state 
of agriculture in the State of North Carolina exer- 
cises a very depressing influence upon every effort to 
ameliorate the physical and educational condition of 
her people. Every other interest, being essentially 
dependent upon this, languishes under the inadequate 
reward of the tiller of the soil. Under this influence 
the disposition to leave the State after the close of the 
war has scarcely any limit, except inability to do so. 

" To educate and enlighten her people without at 
the same time demonstrating the possibility of greater 
returns from labor would still further tend toward 
depopulation. Our work, so general in its character, 
could not fail to stimulate Friends to desire improved 
agriculture. 

" There has been a continual pressure upon us to 



474 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

establish a model farm, and to place among them a 
practical farmer who should, by the use of improved 
farming implements, artificial manures, the introduc- 
tion of grasses, selected seeds and stock, demonstrate 
to their eyes the great neglected wealth of the soil, 
awaiting only the call of improved cultivation ; and 
who, by the establishment of agricultural clubs, within 
the limits of each quarterly meeting, should stimulate 
a spirit of inquiry and enterprise, which would be 
rewarded by the best practical results. We have ac- 
cordingly purchased the farm of that honored and de- 
voted servant, the late Nathan Hunt, at Springfield, 
on the dividing line between Guilford and Randolph 
Counties, containing two hundred acres, at a cost of 
$4400. Springfield Friends contributed $700 toward 
the purchase. 

" We have arranged with our friend William A. 
Sampson, an experienced farmer whose heart is in the 
success of the mission, to take charge of the farm and 
further our work by lectures on agricultural subjects, 
the formation of clubs and the establishment of a 
depot for the sale at cost of seeds, improved stock and 
agricultural implements. 

(Two tons of clover seed were sold by him one 
season, at cost.) 

" General Remarks. — Our expenses for the past 
year have exceeded our estimate, owing to the pur- 
chase of the farm, the establishment of the normal 
school, and the fact that we have had an increase of 
nine schools and over twelve hundred scholars. 

" Our agricultural department will require a liberal 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 475 

outlay of funds in the next year or two, in the erec- 
tion of barns and dwellings, and the purchase of stock 
and farming implements, after which we design it 
shall be self-supporting. 

" The necessity of continuing this mission of Chris- 
tian effort seems to be more important now than ever, 
and we propose once more to appeal to the liberality 
of our Friends to sustain the work until it can be 
safely handed over to North Carolina Friends. If, 
through the want of means, we should be compelled 
to stop our work where it now is, sad indeed will be 
the consequences to our struggling and impoverished 
brethren in the South ; and to us, so much more 
favored, the responsibility will be greater, for having 
been given to see, yet neglecting to improve, so rich a 
field for Christian labor. 

" We know of no other organized and extended 
system of education for white children at the South, 
in operation at the date of this report, but ours ; and 
it is a great satisfaction to find that working in the 
most thorough manner, so that it will materially aid 
the district white and colored schools whenever they 
are established. In view of this, we hope gTcatly 
to enlarge our training school for teachers next 
summer. 

" Our outlay for the past year has been : for re- 
lief, 11841.73 ; for education, $11,327.12 ; boarding 
school, $1332.73 ; expenses, $130.03 ; total, 114,631.- 
61, exclusive of the cost of the farm. 

" Our movement is attracting the attention of the 
most intelligent citizens of the state, as evinced by 



476 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

their frequent visits to our schools, particularly that 
institution, new to North Carolina, the normal school. 

" The disposition to remove to other States, at one 
time so general, has given place to a desire to settle 
down and improve the old homesteads. Our friends 
there, through various causes, are unable themselves 
to sustain the work, although they continue to mani- 
fest their sense of its importance to them by render- 
ing what aid they can. We cannot doubt that to 
abandon the work now would be to lose much that 
has already been gained by this important missionary 
effort, the happy result of which has been, we believe, 
greatly to aid the religious awakening which is mani- 
fest in several parts of that yearly meeting. 

" We have therefore concluded, as the funds con- 
tributed for this, although carefully husbanded and 
judiciously applied by the Baltimore Association, are 
nearly exhausted, to again appeal to our friends of 
other yearly meetings, who so liberally responded to 
our former solicitation, to aid us in continuing the 
work, the result of which has been so encouraging to 
us, and on which we believe the blessing of our Heav- 
enly Father has rested. 

" Our clerk was directed to forward a copy of this 
minute to the meeting for sufferings for each yearly 
meeting on this continent, and to those of Dublin and 
London." 

A minute dated 3d month 18th, 1872, states that 
the committee on education at the South reported that 
there was a bill pending in Congress, providing aid 
for normal school education, and that the bill was 
then before the Senate. 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 477 

This appeal to Friends for further contributions 
was promptly responded to, as was also one other, 
made especially for aid in building new meeting- 
houses and repairing old ones. 

On first sending John Scott and Joseph Moore to 
North Carolina, late in 1865, who began operations 
the first week in 1866, the Association gave them this 
instruction : " Do not arrange for more than 20 
schools, at salaries ranging from f 25 to -$40 a month." 
Such was the interest awakened that the 20 schools 
were soon increased to 61, and instead of 600 j)upils 
there were 3000. The greatest number enrolled in 
any one school was 158 ; the smallest, 23. Schools 
were continued from four to ten months in the year. 

Besides this great amount of work. New England 
and New York Yearly Meetings, on their own account, 
supported eight schools in North Carolina, and Ohio 
supported two in Tennessee. These were all for white 
children. 

In his last report, Allen Jay says : '' We believe 
that all Friends' children have received education for 
more or less time during the past year, which is a 
marked exception to the case of most other white 
children in the South, in agricultural districts." 

The total expenditures, through the Baltimore As- 
sociation, for the relief of Friends in the South, were 
as follows : — 

Physical relief, including cost of the model farm $36,000.00 

Friends' schools ..... 72,000.00 

Guilford College .... 23,000.00 

Meeting-houses ..... 7,300.00 

Total $138,300.00 



478 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

This was contributed by Friends in England, Ire- 
land and the United States, for the relief of their 
brethren temporarily suffering on account of war. 
Philadelphia Friends made large contributions for the 
relief of physical suffering, in 1865 and later, which 
did not pass through this channel. They also sup- 
ported a number of schools in different cities of the 
South, and for years had a superintendent of these 
schools in the field, at their own expense, and they are 
still keeping teachers in Southern schools. 

New York Yearly Meeting, a large contributor to 
the Baltimore Association, also kept up work of its 
own, not only for physical suffering, but has ever 
since the war maintained educational work among the 
freed people, which has finally culminated in the erec- 
tion of a new school building, and the establishment of 
a high-grade school for colored people at High Point, 
N. C. New England Yearly Meeting has a college 
for the colored peoj^le at Maryville, Tenn. ; and In- 
diana Yearly Meeting has one at Helena, Ark., each 
of which has called for large appropriations for all 
these years. 

The increase of meetings and members in North 
Carolina Yearly Meeting has been a source of sur- 
prise to those who are acquainted with the facts. 
From a membership of 1796, as shown by the minutes 
of 1865, they increased to 5385, in 1883, and an in- 
crease from 28 to 53 meetings is shown. They have 
built 39 new meeting-houses and repaired many old 
ones. This has been the result of earnest, self-sac- 
rificing labor, performed with definite ends in view, 



SOUTHERN HEROES. 479 

viz., the conversion of sinners and the building up of 
the church. 

Such a field opened before them to disseminate 
their views and to build up their church as has per- 
haps never before been known in the history of the 
Friends. The prejudices of the jseople who knew 
them had become strongly in their favor, and only a 
lack of money and men adapted to the work stood in 
the way of their capturing much of the South, both 
colored and white. 

The work of the Baltimore Association and of other 
Friends cannot be told by an array of figures, al- 
though these may give some idea of the labor per- 
formed by that noble philanthropist, Francis T. King, 
and his co-workers. The better condition of the peo- 
ple and of their farms, and the increased interest in 
education and religion, can only be appreciated by 
those who visited them in their distressingly desti- 
tute condition immediately following the war, and by 
knowledge, gained by personal observation, of their 
present peace and prosperity. 

The schools established by the Baltimore Associa- 
tion have outgrown the denominational schools, and 
public interest is more general in the cause of educa- 
tion. The struggling New Garden Boarding School 
has grown into the flourishing Guilford College, char- 
tered in 1888, and the normal school which was first 
held by this band of workers in North Carolina has 
become a State institution, and the percentage of the 
population who can read and write is largely in- 
creased. 



480 SOUTHERN HEROES. 

The church of the Friends has grown from so 
nearly a dependent body to an organization extending 
its Christian work beyond its own limits. North 
Carolina Yearly Meeting now cooperates with her 
sister yearly meetings in the great work of sending 
missionaries to foreign lands, and in working for the 
Indians and colored people in our own land. She is 
striving to do her part to hasten the day when " the 
knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the 
waters do the sea ; " and when " nation shall not lift 
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more." 



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